Hive Academy
by Lilypad16
Summary: Robin has been Slade's apprentice for six months now and he has done into a serious depression. In hopes to get Robin's depression to go away Slade sends him to Hive Academy so he can make "new" friends.
1. Chapter 1

**This is an idea I've had for an extremely long time and now I'm just writing it! I hope you like it and please review!**

It's been six months sense I was forced to become Slade's apprentice. At first I fought, I was stubborn; I wasn't going to go down without a fight. But as time went on, the beatings got worse, the training got harder, and the Titans didn't hold back. I can take the beatings and the hard trainings, but the day the Titans started treating me like any other criminal was the day I fell apart.

I was given the order to steal a priceless ruby necklace that belonged to Cleopatra. It was a pointless mission, Slade just wanted me to get out and do something. I wish he hadn't. Everything was going smoothly till half way through the mission when the Titans showed up. Normally they try to talk to me, to see if they could get me to come back. But this time was different, they didn't say anything, they just glared. Then Cyborg shouted what used to be my line _Titans Go!. _And they did and they didn't hold back. They hit me with everything they had. I almost didn't make it out of there.

I failed to get the ruby necklace and Slade was furious with me. But I didn't care; all I could think about was how they didn't care. How after all we've been through they just gave up like it was noting. Slade beat me for not retrieving the necklace, but I think he went easy on me. He could tell I was close to tears. He let me have a quick dinner, something he never did when I fail a mission, and sent me to bed. That night was the first night I cried myself to sleep sense my parents died.

That night I went into a deep depression. I didn't talk, except when absolute needed, which was maybe once a day. I stopped eating. Only eating enough to satisfy Slade; he wouldn't let me leave the table unless I ate something. I was constantly fighting back stupid tears that kept reappearing for no reason. I could be sitting and eating dinner and my eyes would start to water. Or I would be watching T.V and my eyes would water. It was a constant battle. I became a zombie, just trying to get through the day. The only emotion I had left was sadness, the rest were just gone.

I didn't think Slade noticed my changed behavior, or maybe he just didn't care. Either way I was shocked when he sat down by me when I was watching TV. I was allowed to watch one hour of TV a day. Normally I didn't watch anything; I just stared as a stupid random show played. Slade felt me alone, this was my personal time. He never came in and told me I could and couldn't watch. He just left me alone. But today was different. Today he did come and sit down. I barely noticed.

"So, Robin, what are we going to watch?" He asked. He didn't really care what we watched he just wanted me to say something.

I just shrugged and handed him the remote. He didn't say anything as he took the remote and started to flip through the channels. After about ten minutes of flipping he finally landed on a TV show called_ Supernatural_. It was a show that I used to watch with Raven every week. I suddenly felt like someone kicked me in the stomach. Then my throat started to ach with suppressed sobs and hot tears invaded my eyes. I tried to hide it from Slade as best as I could, but he knew. He reached across and rubbed my back in small soothing circles. It only made me feel worse.

Half way through the show, Slade finally spoke, "Robin, you need friends."

I was confused and shocked at that statement. When I first became his apprentice he kept insisting that I didn't need any friends, all they did was get in the way and hold me back. A spark of hope flickered through me. Maybe Slade would let me have contact with the Titans. I knew it was a long shot, but I didn't want to screw up any chances that I had. I quietly and politely said, "I thought I couldn't have any friends."

"You can't have superhero friends, but you can have villain friends," Slade said bluntly.

The disappointment came crushing down on me like bricks, but I didn't let it show. I was proud of that.

"I'm enrolling you into Hive Academy. There are plenty of kids your age that you could become good friends with," Slade explained.

I didn't have it in me to argue, but is said, "What if I don't want to go?"

"You don't have a choice. You need to socialize with people other than Wintergreen and myself. You need to get out of this depression. Friends will help you with that. You start tomorrow so get plenty of sleep," with that Slade got up and left.

As I climbed into bed I tried to think of all villains that went to Hive Acadamy. There was Jinx, Mammoth, Billy Numerous, Gizmo, SeeMore, and Kyd Wykkyd. I'm sure there's more, but I can't think of any at the moment, I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

**Thank you so much for reading! Please please review! Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Please tell me what you think of this story and if I should continue! It sounds really good in my head, but maybe it's not so good written down :/ Please review!**

I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned all night and by 4:00 I was up for good. I tried not to think about going to "school" but the thoughts just kept creeping back. I tried to shake my nerves by taking a warm shower, but it helped little.

I walked into the main room to discover Slade. He was going through some security footage. I didn't care enough to find out what building it came from or why he had it. Even though I was as quite as I could be, Slade still knew I was there.

"You're up early," he said with turning to look at me.

I shrugged.

"Answer me, boy."

"I couldn't sleep," I paused before continuing, "Can I get something to eat?"

"Yeah, but don't eat too much. At Hive Academy a lot of the classes are physical," Slade looked at me, trying to figure out my emotion. I kept my face emotionless like stone and walked into the kitchen to get an apple.

I sat in the kitchen for a couple of hours, waiting for 7:30 to roll around. I tried to keep my mind as blank as possible, but thoughts about my new "school", the Teen Titans, and how proud Batman would be of me, kept flooding back. Batman was a sore subject for me, it bothered me that he didn't even come looking for me after I became Slade's apprentice. He was probably so disappointed in me, that's why he didn't come and retrieve me. I feel so guilty.

Slade walked in and placed a hand on my shoulder, "Ready?"

I shook my head no.

"Good. Lets go."

I've been to high school before, it wasn't too bad. If you knew your place you were fine, stay with people you get along with and stay away from the people you don't. The only problem, I don't know where my place is. I won't get along with any of these people, their criminals, I'm a hero. There's a fine line between the two. To be honest, I'm just waiting till Slade thinks I can go out on my own and start my own villain career. The minute he says I'm on my own, I'm running straight for the Titans.

Maybe I could learn something while I'm here. I can learn how criminals think, function, how their trained. That way in the future when I am a hero again, I'll know how to deal with them better. Slade is sending me here to become a better villain, but I'm going to use this situation to become a better hero.

Slade pulled up to the front of the school. I looked around, not wanting to get out. I saw the Hive Five standing at the entrance talking when Jinx looked up and caught my eye. She smiled and continued telling her story to the others. I was thankful she didn't make such a huge scene, but I don't think I would be so lucky for the rest of the day.

"I'll be here at 3:30. Don't keep me waiting," Slade said then pushed me out the door.

I took a deep breath and started walking up the steps to the building. People started to stare, but I kept my eyes straight and tried to block them out. I took one step at a time, resisting the urge to urge to run in the in other direction. Slade has to have people on the inside watching my every move. They would tell him everything I did, every move I made, whether it's good or bad.

I wasn't exactly sure what I was supposed to do. So I just stood in the middle of the hallway like an idiot taking everything in. Everything was gold; he walls, the floor, and the ceiling, all of it. The floors were made up of tons of gold hexagons; I assumed they were supposed to represent bee hives. There was a picture of the student of the month, Jinx.

"This is so not going to be fun," I mumbled. Just as the words left my mouth someone slammed into me, knocking me over. I looked up to see Jonny Rancid standing over me with an evil smirk. I silently groaned.

"Watch where you're going bird boy," he laughed.

I got up, ready to start a fight, when Jinx skipped over, "Jonny, get to class. You know who Mrs. Bore feels about you being late. She'll hang you from your thumbs if you late one more time."

Jonny's face went pale as the quickly grabbed his things and stalked away. A crowd has formed around us, but it quickly scattered after a look from Jinx. She was obviously respected here.

"So," she turned to me, "What's your first class? Oh by the way I'm going to be your guide," she flashed me a smile.

"I don't know. I don't know anything," I said embarrassed that I wasn't more prepared.

Jinx sighed, "Alright, lets go to the office."

As I followed Jinx to the office I wondered why she was being so nice. I also wondered how many people knew I was here. Most like after my run in the Jonny, the whole school knew I was here. this was going to be a huge disaster. I let my face show my worried thoughts.

Jinx saw, "You know, this place isn't has bad as it seems. I know you're new to this and all that, but it gets better I promise," she put a comforting hand on my shoulder, "And just a little FYI, you've been big news in the villain world for months now. We've had many classes on why you left the Titans to join Slade. Nobody knows the answer; you should keep it that way."

Before I could even think about what I was saying I blurted out, "I'm being forced to."

She looked like she was about to say something when the bell rang, "Shit, I'm going to be late."

"Don't leave," I reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Relax kid, I'm not going anywhere," Jinx rolled her eyes.

I felt pathetic relying on her so much, but I'm completely lost in this place. All I want to do is get out of here as soon as possible. Soon we reached the office. There were two large ladies sitting a computers typing away. One had really short curly hair and large glasses. She wore a tight fitted dress and 5 inch high heels. She wore way too much make-up with bright hot pink lipstick.

The other girl was a lot younger and much nicer looking. She wore clothes that actually fit her and no make-up at all. Her medium length blonde hair was straight and her green eyes kind of sparkled when she smiled. She didn't seem like the type to work in a place like this, maybe she was being held against her will too.

"What do you need?" she asked walking towards us.

"This is Robin. He's here to get his schedule and officially sign in," Jinx explained while examining her finger nails.

"Hi Robin, my name's Tiffany," she held out her hand for me to shake.

"Hi."

"Let me see what I can do," Tiffany said. She got on her computer and typed something in. I heard a click as she hit the print button. She grabbed the paper from the printer and handed it to me, but before I could get it Jinx swiped it from Tiffany's fingers.

Jinx quickly examined it, "We have the same classes except for 3rd period and 9th period. 9th period is a study hall, the whole school has it; you should be fine." Jinx glanced at the clock, "Ah, we gotta go!"

"What do we have first?"

"History,"

"History? Like revolutionary war and Abraham Lincoln history?" maybe I could handle this after all.

"No," Jinx laughed, "History's most successful criminals,"

"Oh,"

Jinx and I walked down the hallway and took a left. At the first door on the right Jinx pushed it open. There was a male teacher in front of the class giving a speech. He didn't ever turn to look at Jinx and I when he said, "Miss Jinx, you are late. Why?"

"Sorry Mr. Simpson," Jinx said and I smiled at the teacher's name, "I was helping Robin settle in and all that good stuff,"

"Alright Jinx take your seat. Robin, here is a book you can go find a seat now too," Mr. Simpson smiled at me and I felt a little better. But my fear came back once more as I saw the entire class looking at me like I was a circus freak. I may have been part of a circus before, but that was a long time ago. And I wasn't a freak, here I am.

I found a seat next to Jinx and the teacher continued his speech, "As I was saying, we are going to have some guest speakers. The guest list will be created by you guys, so if there is a villain that you admire and want to hear talk. Tell me and I'll put them on the chalk board and we'll vote at the end. Okay, give some suggestions."

Nobody moved, nobody said anything; they were all too busy staring at me. Some were whispering, some were giggling, and some were glaring. Either way, I was the center of attention. I wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

To make things even worse the teacher called on me, "Robin, why don't you pick a villain?"

If he was going to call on me, then I was going to give him an answer that he wouldn't forget, "The Joker,"

The whole room flinched as if his name was a bad word. The teacher looked uncomfortable and the entire class looked away. I was just happy to have all eyes off me, even if it was for a minute.

The teacher swallowed hard, "I don't think the Joker would come all this way just to talk in front of a bunch of aspiring villains," he teacher wanted the Joker subject dropped. They feared him. Now I had the upper hand, I wasn't going to let it drop.

"Sure he will, just tell him I'm here. He'll drop everything; he could be here in like two hours if he wanted to. Him and Harley," I said with genuine smile, "He might even finish the job and kill me."

"Robin," Jinx scolded.

"Fine, no Joker," I mumbled.

"What about Slade?" Mammoth suggested, wanting to make my life harder than it already was.

Mr. Simpson's face lit up, "That's a great idea."

I groaned and Jinx snickered.

"What about Brother Blood?"

"The Brain,"

"Mumbo Jumbo,"

"Mother-Mea-Eye,"

After a couple of more villains were named off the voting began. And to my disgust Slade won. He would be here sometime next week to talk about what it took to be a successful villain. This was going to suck majorly.

As the bell rang I got up to leave, but before I could get out Mr. Simpson caught me arm, "Robin, I know things are hard for you and I also know you've met villains that even I have nightmares about. But you can't scare people like that."

"I'm sorry; I didn't understand that you didn't have connections with those guys. Even though you're a school that teaches kids to be good criminals." With that being said I walked out the door to find Jinx waiting for me.

"Ready for combat practice?" she asked.

My shoulder's slumped, "No,"

Jinx lead my into the gym and all eyes turned to me and then quickly looked away. Apparently word got around about what happened in "History". Just great. I walked with Jinx to the cluster of students that swarmed the coach. The name tag on his shirt read Mr. Knapp.

"Today," Mr. Knapp said, "We are going to run a course that tests not only your physical ability, but also your thinking ability. You'll have to think on your feet. If you don't pass the course, then I'll see you after school. Who wants to go first?"

Jinx raised her hand. Not wanting to go with someone else I also raised my hand. Jinx and I walked out into the opening of the gym, where the course started and Mr. Knapp blew the whistle.

The course wasn't anything bad. I've done it all before, dodged lasers, destroyed robots, and tackled a crumbling floor, but the one thing that I wasn't prepared for was the snake like mechanical tentacle that reached out a grabbed me. Hanging me from my feet. I tried to wiggle out, but the more I moved the tighter if got. My ribs were being crushed and I didn't think I could take it much longer before my ribs broke. Fortunately Jinx got to the finish line and pressed the button, cause the tentacles to release me. She came back to help me up.

"Robin," Mr. Knapp said, "I'll see you after school. Now who's next?"

I groaned and sat down on the bleachers. Slade was going to kill me. Just then the stupid tears threatened to spill from my eyes. I blinked fast trying to get them to go away. Jinx came and sat by me, following her was Billy Numous, Mammoth, Gizmo, and Kyd Wykkd. They called Kyd Wykkd kid, which reminding me of Kid Flash. The tears threatened again and blinked. Hoping they would go away.

Jinx laughed at something Billy said, the sound brought me out of my thoughts. I looked around at the people I was surrounded by and wondered if I could ever be friends with any of them. None of them would be able to replace the Titans or Kid Flash or Speedy. I wonder what Kid Flash and Speedy think of me now. How come they haven't tried to save me?

"Robin," Kyd Wykkd said, "Jinx as a computers class next and you have Heroes 101. I have Heroes 101 too, so you'll go to class with me instead of her."

"Ok," I answered.

That was the only thing I heard Kyd Wykkd say. Ever. He certainly doesn't talk much, that was a huge difference between him and Kid Flash. Kid Flash never shuts up.

As the bell ring to go, I realized that it was only third period. There were nine periods in a day. This has been the worst day of my life and it wasn't even half way over.

"What do we do in Heroes 101?" I asked Kyd Wykkd.

"We just talk about a whole bunch of different superheroes,"

That was not want I wanted to hear. This class was going to be hell.

**Please review and tell me if I should continue! It was going to be much longer, but I wanted to get it up as soon as possible, so the rest of Robin's day will the in the next chapter! Again please review, because I'm not sure if this story is any good. :/ **


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank You, Thank You, Thank You for all the reviews! You guys gave me much needed confidence in this story! Please continue to review!**

Soon enough I found myself following Kyd Wykkyd through a hallway jam packed full of wanna be villains. I bumped into a few people and earned a couple of glares when I tried apologized. Would it kill people to be polite for once in their life? Apparently so.

Kyd Wykkyd didn't seem to notice and continued walking straight ahead. Jinx was much more social; to be perfectly honest she was easy to get along with. I kind of liked her. I wonder if we were friends, I would ask, but I highly doubt that it would go over very well. She would most likely laugh and then insult me and or hex me. So asking her if we're friends was not on the top of my list of things to do. I quickly looked around for her before remembering that she went in a completely different direction when the bell rang.

Kyd Wykkyd took a swift right and walked to the last room on the left and walked in. The room was of medium size and pictures of the Justice League and the Teen Titans, excluding me, were hung up all around the room. I walked up to the Teen Titans poster and took it in. Cyborg, who had taken my place as the leader was in front. Raven, who must have been second in command, was on his right side. Starfire was on his left. And Beast Boy was at Ravens side. I swallowed hard and tried to think where I would have fit into this picture. I started to get sick to my stomach, but I couldn't look away. These were the people that I trusted the most, they were, no they _are, _my friends and now they have to protect the city without me. They have to protect the city _from_ me.

Kyd Wykkyd gave me a sympathetic look and grabbed my arm, leading me to a desk in the front. I sat at kyd's left, there was an empty seat next to me. I was hoping nobody would want to sit next to me when Jonny Rancid took the seat with a shark grin. I took a deep breathe closed my eyes and counted to ten.

The teacher scurried in dropping paper and books everywhere. I started to get up to help, but both Jonny Rancid and Kyd Wykkyd pulled my down. I shot them a glare and tried to get up again, but Jonny fiercely whispered in my ear, "It's a trick you moron. This is a hero's class, helping is a weakness. Unless you want to be picked on all year by Mrs. Sand all year long, I suggest you act like a villain and not a hero."

"But I am a hero," I whispered back. Although I wasn't so sure what I was anymore.

"Not here you're not," Kyd answered for Jonny.

I decided to let the subject drop. Seconds later the teacher stood up straighter and smiled a wicked smile, "Good, you all passed."

Nobody moved. They just looked ahead. She must be a hard teacher.

"Now," She said rubbing her hands together, "Who remembers what the agenda for the day was going to be?"

"Black Canary," someone, who I don't know said from the back. I liked Black Canary, she was always to nice. She was nice to Speedy too when he was addicted to heroin. She was a good mom figure to him.

"Ah, yes," Mrs. Sand spotted me for the first time and a smirk flickered across her face, "But I made a couple of changes. Today we are going to be discussing Batman," She paused for effect and looked at me. I knew she wanted a reaction, so I didn't give her one. That didn't make her too happy.

To my surprise, Jonny stepped in to help me out, "But I already have everything labeled and put together for Black Canary. Can't we discuss Batman another day?"

Mrs. Sand's face became grave as she scolded Jonny, "Of course not! This is my classroom; you do not make the rules. And do not baby Robin, it will not help him one bit! The next time I see any of you babying Robin; it's an automatic hour detention."

I was so embarrassed by what she said, my face grew ten different shades for red, each redder than the one before. My cheeks grew hot and I placed my head in the hands, fighting back those stupid tears. I hate this teacher. I hate Slade. I hate myself.

Satisfied at me embarrassment Mrs. Sand turned around and wrote _Batman_ on the board and next to it drew a dash and wrote _Hero_. The whole thing looked like this _Batman-Hero_. I felt sick at reading it. I read it over and over till the words just slipped out of my mouth, "Batman's no hero."

I must have said it a little louder than intended because the whole class turned to stare at me. The teacher got a wicked look on her face, which indicated that she had a wicked scheme up her sleeve.

"And why would you say that Robin dear?"

Oh God, I shouldn't have said anything. The last thing I wanted or needed to do was go into detail about my relationship with Batman and how I was upset that he hasn't saved me from Slade. It was a huge sore subject for me; even Slade has learned not to push for information regarding Batman and mine's relationship.

"I just…I know him very well," was all I said.

"Oh really? Well for the sake of this class we are going to assume he is a hero. Okay?" she asked me sweetly. It was an act and she was going to push me till I lost control. That is what she wants. I'm not going to give it to her.

I nodded.

"Batman is considered one of the greatest heroes of all time," Mrs. Sand said writing on the board.

Each time she complemented Batman on being a great hero it felt like a kick to the stomach. She went on and on about how it would be considered an honor to fight him in a combat battle. She said that if you ever fight him, you have made it as a villain. But I have fought him in combat battle, what does that make me? What does that make him?

Mrs. Sand kept hitting nerves. And little by little my self-control was leaving. Each time she said Batman was the best, he was he man to take down, and that he was an all-around good person. I would lose a little more self-control. They were all true, I knew, but our relationship was so rocky that I couldn't believe how high the villains thought of him. What hit hard, what was the last nerve, what made me finally explode was when Mrs. Sand would do anything for the people he cared for.

I stood up and started to shout, "You think he's a hero? You think he's do great? Then why am I here? Why the hell am I still working for Slade? He should have saved me by now! He should of came and got me the week I went missing! Where is he? Where is this great hero? I'm his child; don't you think he should be here to save me, to help me, if he cared about me? You think you know us heroes, you think you have us figured out. You think we always have to do the right thing. But guess what? If you knew the things I know about the Justice League you wouldn't think do highly of them!"

I was breathing hard. I was completely out of breath and I was red in the face and close to tears, for the fifth time today. I wasn't the only one upset in the room. Mrs. Sand had gotten what she wanted, an explosion, but it was more than she bargained for. And she was upset that I made her look like a fool in front of her class, because she knew as well as I did, she knew _nothing_ about the heroes.

"Robin, go to the office, right now!" she yelled pointing to the door, "I'm calling Slade!"

I thought I'd have a little more fun before I left, "Go ahead! I don't fear Slade like you do!" I laughed and walked out and made my way to the office.

Truth be told I was flipping terrified of Slade. He was not going to be happy about how my day was going. Fist I scared everyone with the Joker, then I failed the combat course that I had to make up after school, and now I just blew up on a teacher. Yeah, I was going to get it when I got home tonight. Most likely I would be beaten, severely, and then be put to bed with no dinner or tv time.

When I got to the office, Tiffany had me sit in the hallway while she called Slade and explained what happened. I sat there twiddling my thumbs, trying not to think of the torture I would endure when I got home when I heard Jinx's voice, "I wasn't be your side for no more the 30 minutes! What happened?"

"I blew up on the teacher," I said without looking at her.

"I got that part. How come?" Jinx sat down next to me.

"Because she kept insisting that Batman was a hero," I didn't look at her. I was completely aware how absurd it sounded.

Jinx was truly confused, "Isn't he?"

"Yeah, but….Jinx are we friends?" I caught her eye.

"Ummm, do you want to be?" she wasn't sure how to answer this.

"I want someone to talk to."

"Then I'll listen."

"How can Batman be a hero, when he won't come and save me? If he's a great hero then why have I been working for Slade for six months? Jinx, why hasn't he come to save me? Why doesn't he care?" the last part was a whisper.

Jinx sighed, "Maybe he's just waiting for your permission," she paused for a second to let it sink in, "I'm assuming when you left his side to join the Titans you wanted to be seen as an adult and not as a kid. You wanted to show him that you can take care of yourself. So maybe he wants nothing more than to come save you, but he doesn't want to ruin your guys relationships any more than it already is. Maybe he wants you to admit that you need help and once you do he will be there in an instant to help you. Ever think of that?"

It made sense. But I couldn't help but wonder, "Slade watches me constantly. He even has eyes and ears all over the place here. How am I going to get a message to Batman? It's impossible."

Jinx smiled, "Why don't you let me worry about that."

A small grin spread across my face, "You would do that for me?"

"Of course, what are friends for?"

**Thank you so much for reading! Please, please review! Tell me if you still like it or if you hate it! Do you like Batman in it or just keep him out after this? I'm not sure what class Robin should have after this, so if you have any ideas please let me know! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you all for the reviews. Please keep reviewing and I hope you like this chapter. :) **

I smiled. I was going to get out of here. I didn't even care that it was Batman that was going to save me. All I wanted to see was Batman kicking Slade's ass. I don't know how things are going to be with the Titans and me after everything was said and done. I would probably have to go back to Gotham so we could work things out without the pressure of me being there. Trust would have to be rebuilt and it won't be rebuilt over nigh. So until it was rebuilt I would have to stay with Batman, but that's okay, I always did feel the safest at Batman's side.

"We have math next," Jinx groaned.

"Like normal math?" I asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yep," Jinx glanced at the clock.

Not completely believing her I asked again, "Like normal, regular high school math?"

"Yes," Jinx said finally looking at me, "It's regular math, just like you would find at a regular high school…only harder."

"How much harder?" I asked slowly.

Jinx was hesitant to answer, but when she did she put on a light tone, "Oh, you know it's a mixture of calculus and trigonometry. Nothing too bad."

Lucky for me I was fairly good at math. Bruce always pressed me to do the best I could and it turned out that I had a gift for math. Who would have guessed? I had passed calculus a long time ago, but I haven't ever tried trigonometry.

The bell rang, Jinx groaned and I laughed at her. I was the first one up and I reached out to help her up, but she hexed me and I flew back onto the ground. She flashed me a smile and I grinned a little. I should have known better than to help her up.

My grin suddenly faded when I saw him. Jinx saw my face quickly fall, confused she turned around to see what was wrong. She was standing inches from him, she tensed up. She nodded to him and turned around to face me.

"Umm, I'll see you in math," she placed a hand on my shoulder, gave me wink and whispered, "Good luck."

We locked eyes and she knew how thankful I was for her.

Jinx left and I kept my eyes down. I wasn't ready to face him yet, but I knew the longer I refused to look at him the more trouble I would be in. slowly I raised my eyes and eventually they landed on Slade.

I gave a half smile and said, "Hi,"

"Hello," he said in his same gravely monotone voice.

My heart started to pump fast and I swallowed hard. Pretending to play dumb I asked, "What are you doing here?"

Slade didn't move, he didn't blink, he didn't breath. This scared more than if he would yell and scream at me. The two secretaries where trying hard to keep their eyes on their own business, but they couldn't. They kept sending small glances at us.

It shouldn't bother me, but it did. Why was everyone so fascinated with me and Slade? It was a dumb question, I know, I already knew the answer. In their eyes; I left the Titans for him. I betrayed my best friends.

The stupid tears started to form again. This was not what I wanted to do in front of Slade. Sure I've cried in front of him before, but that was only when I truly couldn't hold them back. I can't hold them back now. I blinked like crazy, trying to get them to go away. Eventually they did. But not before Slade realized what was going on.

"I got a call from Tiffany. What's going on? What's the matter?" Slade didn't show any emotion. He never did.

I wanted to scream, yell at him, and make him understand the pain I was going through. The dark whole that was always present. The way I felt no emotions, except for sadness all the time. I wanted to tell him that making me go to this school was only making things worse. The teachers were horrible and the students treated me like I was glass about to break at any moment. And truth be told, I was glass. I had been through so much in my short life that I didn't know how much more I could take.

Slade would never understand any of this, because there was no possible way he was human. Only humans can feel all the emotions. I don't think he felt anything, ever. Slade was cold with a hollow heart and only cared about one thing, success. I needed someone who understands me. I need Batman.

I shrugged, "Nothing."

"Noting," Slade's eye narrowed, "I don't get called here for nothing."

I looked down at the ground. This was my sign that I didn't want to talk.

"Well," Slade pressed, "Mr. Simpson and Mrs. Sand are in the Head Maser's office. They want to talk."

I groaned and ran my fingers through my hair. This could not be happening. It just simply could not.

Without warning Slade grabbed my arm and dragged me into a small room in the back of the office. Sitting in the room in big soft looking chairs were Mr. Simpson and Mrs. Sand. They didn't look too happy.

"Mr. Slade, Robin, please have a seat," the Head Master said. She gave me a warm smile, one that reminded me of Wonder Woman. I felt immediately relived. That smile was all I needed, I confidently took a seat. Slade noticed and seemed impressed.

The Head Master looked at all of us in the eye before saying, "Now, what's the problem?"

Mrs. Sand jumped out of her chair and began shouting and pointing her index finger in my face, "He made me look like a fool in front of the entire class. Accusing me of not knowing anything about the superheroes. I teach that class, I've been to a plethora of workshops on the issue. I know more about all the superheroes than any other teacher…"

I cut her off, "So you've been to workshops. You still don't know anything about them. You may know a few things about them that will help that take them down in battle, but you don't know anything. You think so highly of us heroes, but we aren't perfect we make mistakes. Green Arrow threw Speedy out and Batman…" I stopped dead. This wasn't something I needed to be proving myself for. I know I know the Justice League better than anyone; I didn't need to prove anything. And if I kept going I would say something stupid and it would put the entire Justice League and Teen Titans in danger.

That's when everything came apart. All the day's frustrations and stress came down and hit me like a ton of bricks. My depression came back and hit hard. I began to cry. Silent tears streamed down my face as everyone watched. They were shocked that the Boy Wonder, Batman's protégé, and now Slade's apprentice was crying. The Head Mistress was the first to recover. She handed me a tissue and asked, "Robin is there something you need or want?"

I looked her in the eye and told her exactly what I wanted, "I want Batman. I want my Dad."

**This chapter went in a completely different direction than what I was intending. So I hope you still enjoyed it. Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

I kicked myself for saying it. I wished with all my heart that I hadn't, but it was already said. That was my poison. Out of all the things I did today, this was going to be the one thing that got me beat. I was going to be beaten tonight, no doubt about it, but that didn't change the way I felt. I wanted my dad.

"Robin," Mr. Simpson said, "Your father is right there," he pointed to Slade.

"He's right, Robin. I'm your father," Slade said.

"No, you're not!" I shouted. "A father doesn't force his kid to turn on his friends, a father doesn't make his child change his beliefs and morals, and a father certainly doesn't beat his child."

"Well," Mrs. Sand's voice made my skin crawl, "Robin, if Batman is such a great father, where is he? Why hasn't he come to get you?" she looked smug.

I slapped my forehead and sighed, "That's what I have been trying to tell you! We heroes aren't perfect, in fact we're so far from it I sometimes wonder why we even are heroes. Your right, my father isn't the best father in the world. He needs to take some parenting class, but he loves me. He loves me a lot and when he realizes where I'm at, he will kick all your asses and drag my sorry butt back to Gotham. Now if you would excuse me I have math," with that I stormed out of the room. Only to get a few steps before I realized that I didn't know where the math room was. So I marched right back in there and politely asked, "Where is the math room?"

The Head Master looked at me and pointed out to the hallway, "Go straight and it's the 5th door on the right."

"Thank you." I flashed her a smile and started to leave, but before I could reach the door handle Slade roughly grabbed my arm and squeezed tightly.

"We will continue this when you get home tonight," Slade said in a deadly tone.

I was so screwed. I wiggled out of his grip, which wasn't easy, he did not want to let go of me. I walked out the door without looking back and I walked down the hall and through the 5th door on the right. As I stepped in the whole class was turned to stare at me.

I scanned the room until my eyes met Jinx's. She laughed, "You survived!"

"Barely," I said and took a seat in the front row.

"Robin, nice of you to join us. My name is Mrs. Collins," the teacher said and turned back to the lesson she was teaching.

I wasn't really paying attention. I never really paid attention in math and it always seemed to click for me. I doodled on a scratch sheet of paper and thought about Batman. What would I say to him. I had to think of something to write in the letter Jinx was going to send him. Should it be short? Or long, explained everything? Should I apologize for the fight and bad note we left things? None of this mattered. Not really, I was more worried about Jinx being right, I hope he really was waiting for my permission. If he wasn't, I wouldn't be able to handle it, because if he wasn't waiting for permission, it means he doesn't care.

The bell rang and a mob of kids piled out of the room. Jinx was by my side in seconds. The fact that she was there so quickly made me smile.

"So, how did it go? Is Slade going to skin you alive?"

"Well it went as good as could be expected, I guess," I shrugged, "And yes, he is going to kill me when I get home."

"Why? Did you say something to tick him off?" she asked, "Oh, we have a fifteen minute break."

As we walked over to sit by the lockers I told her everything, "Yeah, I told them I wanted my Batman. I called Batman da, by the way."

Jinx gasped.

I chuckled, "Yeah, it was bad. Then I called myself a hero and told them that Batman loves me. And then to top everything off I told them that Batman was going to kick their asses."

Jinx rolled her eyes and giggled a girly giggle, "You, trouble just seems to find you don't it?"

I gave her a lop sided grin, "Yeah."

We sat in silence for a while, my thought were drifting back on to the subject of Batman.

"Jinx," I asked.

"Hmm?"

"What if you're wrong?"

"About what?" Jinx looked offended.

"About Batman, what if he just doesn't want to come save me?" I didn't look at her.

She sighed heavily, "Robin, you're an idiot."

That little comment made me smile and it made my day. It's something Speedy would say. I missed him and Kid Flash. I really hope I see them again someday and we can all laugh at me years down the road. Hopefully.

I suddenly got an idea, "Hey, Jinx. If I ever get out here I want you to met someone."

Jinx arched an eyebrow, "Really? Who?"

"His name is Kid Flash. I think you'll like him."

"Yeah, I seriously doubt it."


	6. Chapter 6

Jinx and I sat in complete silence for the next few minutes. I watched as people walked back and forth. I heard students talking and laughing loudly. By now most people had stopped staring at me and moved on with their lives. They went on with their day as usual. I wondered how long it would take for me to settle into a routine

I checked the clock, only 8 more minutes till I had to go to my next class. I pondered what class I had next and swiftly I leaned over to Jinx and asked, "What do we have next?"

Without looking at me or my schedule she answered, "Weapons."

She seemed distracted. I followed her gaze and my eyes landed on Slade talking to Tiffany and an old guy.

"Jinx," I said letting worry and fear dip into my voice.

She looked at me, her eyes full of concern, "That's Mr. Onen. He works with students get along with their mentors. He is also…umm…Slade's old mentor," Jinx rubbed the back of her neck and laughed nervously.

I was too shocked to say anything. I didn't think today could get any worse, now I have to deal with Slade's old mentor? I bet Slade told him everything and now I would be stuck going to his class too. As if Tiffany had read my mind, she started to walk towards me. I nudged Jinx in the ribs and before she could say anything I pointed to Tiffany. Jinx grabbed my hand and together we hid it from Tiffany and everyone else around.

"Robin," Tiffany said in her overly cheerful voice, "There was a slight change in your schedule."

"Of courses there was," I sighed.

"It's just a small one," Tiffany reassured me.

"But a change never less," Jinx growled.

Tiffany looked uncomfortable for a moment, but quickly regained her posture, "Instead of going to weapons class, you will be going to Mr. Onen's class to work on you skills when dealing with your mentor."

"I don't need to work on my relationship with my mentor," I barked at her.

Even Jinx raised her eyebrows in protest. I knew that they were right. I defiantly needed to work on my relationship with Slade. But come on how good of a relationship did they expect me to have with the guy that kidnapped me and forced me to be his apprentice? I'm just trying to get through the days till Batman comes to get me, but then again, going to a class that is taught by Slade's old mentor could be a good thing. I could learn things about Slade that could benefit me in the future.

Yes, this could be a blessing in disguise, "Fine. I'll go."

Tiffany looked relived I agreed without much reluctance and Jinx squeezed my hand. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and leaned slightly into Jinx. I was a small act of comfort that didn't go unnoticed. As my eyes trailer over to Slade and Mr. Onen where standing my eyes caught Mr. Onen's and he made it clear he saw me and Jinx. I gulped and he smiled. For a moment I was afraid that he would tell Slade, but he just winked and turned to walk back to his classroom.

"This might be interesting," I told Jinx.

A smile spread across her face, "That is an understatement. I will want all details."

"Count on it," I answered and the bell rang. I didn't want to let go of her hand, but the longer we sat here, the more attention we will get. That was the last thing I wanted. We both stood up and she gave me a quick hug before walking away. I was left a little stunned, but I got over it and hesitantly started to make my way to Mr. Onen's class.

I walked rather slowly toward the classroom, I looked gracefully looked around for Slade, but I didn't see him. I thought of how Mr. Onen didn't say anything to Slade about how close I was getting to Jinx. For a brief second I thought maybe Mr. Onen was nice, but then I remembered that he was Slade's mentor and was probably just waiting for the right moment to use it against me. He most likely would black mail me into doing something I didn't want to do.

When I arrived at the door I was quick to panic when I saw Slade, standing there, talking to Mr. Onen. I hoped that he wouldn't be staying. My panic only got worse when I realized that there was only two other students in this class. There would only be three of us all together so Mr. Onen was sure to work with me and give me plenty of attention.

My eyes scanned the room over and over in quick motions. My heart beat faster and it was hard to breath. Mr. Onen was the first to spot me.

"Robin," he said waving me over, "Why don't you take a seat."

My eyes never left Slade. I could hear Mr. Onen laugh. He was laughing at me. He has overly dealt with this before and never that trust was hard to achieve with mentors and apprentices. I took a seat and pulled out my black notebook and blue pen. I pretended to busy myself by writing a random letter with random words, trying to get my mind off of Slade. I just wanted him to leave. I prayed that he wouldn't be staying for this class period.

"I'm Brie," a red headed girl who was sitting on my right said.

"Robin," I said turning to look at her. She was pretty, with green eyes and a small nose. I wondered what she was doing in a class like this.

"And I'm Dean," a cocky looking dark haired boy sitting in front of Brie said. He had the bad boy look to him and charmed smile that could win any girl over. It was obvious why he was in this class.

"Hi," I smiled.

"Robin," Slade growled.

I took a deep breath and slowly asserted my gaze onto him.

"I'm going to leave now," Slade said as if it was a dare, "There will not be any more problems. Understand?"

Not wanting to cause a scene and wanting to get him to leave as soon as possible I politely answered, "Yes, Master."

"Good," Slade said and turned to leave.

I made sure Slade was completely turned around and made a face at him. Mr. Onen laughed.

"I see we have our work cut out for us."

**Sorry it's so short, but lately I haven't really had any motivation to write, but I hope you enjoyed it anyways!**


	7. Chapter 7

"Okay," Mr. Onen clapped his hands together and looked at each of us, "Robin, I'm sure you are completely ecstatic to be here and I'm absolutely positive that you are dying to go first. But I'm sorry to say that we are going to start with Brie."

Mr. Onen smiled and winked at me. And for the first time today I had a genuine smile plastered across my face. I really kind of liked him. He wasn't over excited that I was here. He didn't push me for answers, although I'm sure he knows everything. And what I appreciated the most was that he didn't deliberately try to push my buttons like so many others had.

Mr. Onen sat on the stool that was centered in the front of the class. He sat casually; leaning forward with his hands on his knees. He didn't pressure Brie into talking or interrupt her when she was. He was relaxed at let her talk. He seemed really cool and honestly I don't know how Slade could have ever been trained by someone like this. Mr. Onen was relaxed and laid back and Slade was always tense, looking for something to do. Slade always had a plan that would most certainly work, but Mr. Onen was the type of person to just go with the flow.

I would choose him for a master over Slade any day. I knew right there that this would be one of my more liked classes. It was weird how one teacher could make you feel more comfortable in a school. I couldn't wait to get out of class to tell Jinx.

"Crap," I mumbled under my breath as I realized just how close I was getting to Jinx. It hadn't even been a full day and I already considered her to be one of my best friends. What's going to happen if I escape from Slade and become a hero again? How, after everything, am I going to throw her in jail? Well to be realistic when Batman comes to get me; he'll drag my sorry butt back to Gotham and I won't be allowed to leave the manor for a couple of years.

I vaguely listened to what Brie was saying; I was distracted with this new turn of events. I really hadn't learned much about Brie except that she was a tad bit self-absorbed and liked things to be perfect. And the way I saw it, a lot of her problems with her master where because she had a mind of her own and doesn't like to take orders. Instead of stealing a gun from a private collector she when and got her nails done. That was the final straw, she got sent to this class the very next day.

Now Dean was more of an interesting character. He was loyal, he didn't exactly what he was told with no arguments or complaints, and he loved his master more than anything. He did have an "I don't care" attitude though. He wasn't the type of person to spill his feelings; he pushed them down and buried them all while putting a smile on. His master was a real dick, nothing was never good enough for him, even though Dean put his best effort into everything he did. All Dean wanted was his master's approval, but the way he spoke about him it was clear that he wouldn't be getting it for a long time.

Now it was my turn. Everyone slowly shifted their eyes to me and they slightly leaned in to hear better. They tried to be subtle, but after everything today I was more in tune to people's body language. I should have been more aware of people's body languages before, then maybe I wouldn't be in this situation.

"Well," I said, "What's there to tell? Slade's a jerk that kidnapped me and is blackmailing me so I stay. Do I want to be here? No. Do I want to get as far away from Slade as I can? Yes. Am I going to run away anytime soon? No. Why? Because I don't want to put anybody in any danger. There you go, story of my life."

"Robin, do you think maybe Slade kidnapped you for your own good? Have you considered the idea that maybe he knows what's better for you and is blackmailing you because that is the only way you will stay?" Mr. Onen asked.

My mouth dropped, "No, Dr. Phil I don't think that," I snapped at him.

"Maybe you should ask him. Get his side of the story. There are two sides to every story and you only know you side. Why don't you talk to him? Tonight when you get home bring up this subject and tell him you want his side of the story," Mr. Onen smiled at me.

"Yeah, well, he isn't too happy with me at the moment so I don't think I'll be asking for his side of the story anytime soon. Thanks anyways though," I gave him the same smile back.

"Robin," Mr. Onen said while pulling out a sheet of paper to write on, "I am giving you an assignment tonight. I want you to go home and get Slade's side of the story. Sit down and really talk. I want this conversation to last at least an hour. Then tomorrow you can tell the class all about it."

As Mr. Onen handed me the piece of paper I knew I had lost this battle and tonight I would be have a heart to heart with Slade. I was going to have to being up a subject that I dreaded. Tonight I was going to get the other half of the story.


	8. Chapter 8

**So Microsoft isn't working for me, so I typed this on something called WordPad, and it doesn't have spell check! I tried to spell check it myself has much as possible, so if there are some mistakes I am sorry!**

When the bell rang, I was quick to get up. It was lunch time, and I needed to find Jinx before she got lost in the sea of kids. As I walked through the classroom doors; I looked around the hallway to see kids quickly passing, throwing books in their lockers, hoping to be the first in line. I sighed.

Jinx found me first; I was scanning the halls looking for her pink hair, when she rushed to my side. "Ready?" she asked, wind from her sudden entrance ruffled my hair.

"Sure," I groaned. I was itching to tell her about my last class and about my dreaded assignment, but I thought it would be best to wait for a few minutes atleast, before I dumped more of my drama on to her.

Teachers yelled at students to walk, but it was futile. Nobody listened, they just ran, and ran some more. Jinx rolled her eyes as Mammoth and Gizmo sped pasted us while Billy Numorus shouted out for them to wait. For a split second I wondered where Kyd Wykkyd was before I noticed that he was at my right, walking in unison with Jinx and I.

I liked Kyd Wykkyd; he was quite, calm, and never talked. I was willing to bet that he was a great listener, but I wasn't too comfortable talking to him just yet. Maybe in a few days. I wanted to bring up the letter to Batman, but I didn't want to bring it up in front of the wrong people and put the whole scheme in jeopardy.

eventually we reached the lunch line. I was stunned at how long the line actually was, it started at the serving table and wrapped around the cafeteria. A number of student had already taken their seats and where eating, what looked to be so sort of meatloaf. I didn't really have much of an appetite, but I figured I better eat, because I wouldn't be getting anything tonight when I got home.

Jinx had started up a conversation with Kyd Wykkyd while I was observing my surroundings. I felt awkward and jealous as they continued talking, I tried to find a good place to jump in, but I couldn't find a comfortable place to interrupt. The chatted on, I stood their awkwardly, the line moved slowly.

I was passing time by counting the ceiling tiles, I got to 375 tiles before Jonny Rancid came up behind me. I knew he was there before he even muttered a sound. I hoped with all my might that he wouldn't start anything. I was too emotionally fried to fight anymore today. But I had no such luck.

"Hey, Bird Boy," he snarled at me.

"Hey, Jonny," I said without turning around.

Jonny caught Jinx's attention, "Hey, Jonny," she said, " How was Mr. Simpson's class? I heard you got kicked out for cussing out Samson." Jinx gave him a wicked smirk.

Jonny laughed, " He had it coming, telling me a door handle has more wits than I do."

Then Jinx and Jonny got into a conversation about some kid named Samson. I looked over to Kyd, but he was in a conversation with a blue haired guy. Again, I was awkward and uncomfortable. So I continued to count the ceiling tiles.

997...998...999...1,000... 1,001...1,002... 1,003...1,004...

Finally we reached the serving table. That was great news for two reasons: One- I was hungary, Two- I was running out of ceiling tiles to count. I searched for a clock to check how long I had been standing in this stupid line. I looked around the cafeteria four times before my eyes landed ont the clock. 1:42. I had been in this line for 42 minutes! My next class was at 2:10. How was I going to finish eating in time?

There was a soft rumble of voices as people talked among themselves. Some had their cell phones out, some had books, and some just sat there staring at each other. I figured that my table would be the one staring at each other. Or more like I would be staring. Sense I was socially awkward, I would just eat and wish that I could join in.

Yep, I'm pathetic.

The lunch lady slopped at piece of meatloaf onto my tray. The look of it made my stomach hurt and I wondered if it would crawl off my plate. The thought of my food crawling off my plate made me laugh out loud. That earned my a few glances that said, _"Are you okay?"_

The three continued to talk as we sat down a round table. I looked around, nobody was paying any attention to me, even the people I was sitting with. I picked and nibbled at my food as if I wasn't hungary, but I was. The food just tasted like rubber. I really wanted to talk to Jinx, but I didn't want to say anything with other people around, so I didn't say anything and started to count the floor tiles.

356...357...358...359...360...361...362...363...364...

The bell rang. I was glade to stop counting, but if the school ever gave a pop quiz over how many ceiling and floor tiles where in the school, I would surly get a 100%. I dragged my feet down the hallway, following Jinx. I sighed, feeling so left out that it hurt. But Jinx had other friends and I had to accept that, so I pulled out my schedule. I had a study hall next with a teacher named Mr. Jantz.

Great I have no idea who that is. I looked up to ask Jinx, but she was gone. I started to panic and looked around frantically for her. I couldn't see her anywhere. My stomach did flips and my hands started to sweat.

"Hey," I heard Jinx's voice from behind me. I quickly turned to face her, a big grin on my face.

"Hey," I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Mr. Jantz's is that way" she pointed to the only door at the end of the hallway, " And here," she handed me a note, flashed me her famous smile, and walked to her next class.

I hurried to my next class. I didn't even look around to see who was in this class with me. I just sat down and read the note.

Robin,

You need to talk more, you would make friends so much faster that way. Anyways you have a study hall this period, so take this time and write to Batman. Explain everything. We have the next class together so you can give it to my then. And for God's sake don't put _Dear Batman _on the top! Don't let anybody read it or even see you writing it. Good luck.

P.S If you need me I'm in Mrs. Sand's study hall...yeah I know yay me!

~Jinx

I pulled out a sheet of paper and started to write Batman.

**Thank you for reading! So Microsoft isn't working for me, so I typed this on something called WordPad, and it doesn't have spell check! I tried to spell check it myself has much as possible, so if there are some mistakes I am sorry!**


	9. Chapter 9

Most of the people in my study hall left as soon as they checked in. Some students even came to get help from Mr. Jantz. Apparently he was the science teacher and was a tough one at that. With Mr. Jantz distracted and the room practically empty I pulled out a sheet of paper and started to write to Batman.

As you have probably heard I have gotten myself into some trouble, and I need your help to get out of it. I'm being black mailed and I thought I could get out of it, but I can't and now I need you to help me get out of it. I'm sorry it took me so long to reach you, but I had no way to get this letter to you. I have inside help and they will get this letter to you as soon as possible. I'm sorry for everything…please help.

~Robin

I read and reread the letter five times. It seemed so short, but it got to the point. I wanted to pour my heart out into it, but I figured that the shorter the better for now. I glanced at the clock and I still had a half hour till my next class. I sat there and drummed my fingers along the table, waiting for something interesting to happen.

Five minutes went by and nothing happened till some Dean came and sat down by me. His dark hair hung in his face; he ran his fingers through his hair to push it back. He sighed and stared at me for a few moments, as if trying to figure out what to say to me. I awkwardly looked away trying to think of what to say.

Dean just stared at me for a few more moments before saying, "Hey"

"Hey," I responded reluctantly wondering why he was talking to me.

"I was forced to come here and work on my nuclear bomb project. I'm failing this class, but I don't care."

"I have this class next, science, I mean. And I'm not looking to forward to it, because everybody looks like they are struggling," I sighed.

Dean smirked, "Yeah, but don't worry, Slade was Jantz's favorite student, so you will probably be a favorite too."

"Oh yay!" I mumbled and Dean laughed.

"You're alright," Dean lightly punched me on the shoulder.

We started talking and I realized that I really like him. He was cool, never took anything to seriously and laughed a lot. We talked about our classes and girls and our masters. I haven't felt this comfortable talking to someone sense Jinx.

I was relived to find out that he was in my next class. When the bell rand we didn't move and continued talking. Jinx came in and smiled at me. I thought she would come and sit by me, but she saw that I was doing alright without her and sat down next to a couple of other girls.

Sorry it's so short, but I had writers block and I have been busy with the school play. I promise to write more before the end of the week. I have also been working on my novel, if anyone wants to read it I would gladly show it to you!


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay so I thought sense I wrote such a crappy and short chapter yesterday I would upload another one so soon! Yay! So enjoy this chapter and tell me what you think! **

Mr. Jantz took attendance then addressed the class, "Okay yesterday you learned about nuclear weapons and what they can do if not used properly. That is why only advanced students can handle them. Today we will learn about what nuclear weapons can do when used correctly. Remember at the end of the semester I will take the top two students and they will have the privilege of building a nuclear weapon."

That made my skin crawl. Of course I already knew a fair amount about nuclear weapons, most heroes did, but the thought of villains knowing this stuff freaked me out a bit. I knew that criminals had access to all this stuff, but it was still unnerving that they taught it to teenagers.

Dean laughed, "One of those spots is mine. I have a 103% in this class, plus I work with a guy that invents new nuclear bombs."

Dean wasn't bragging, I could tell that. I knew that he didn't have a good relationship with his master and he wanted to prove to his master he was worth something. I liked Dean, he was laid back and he seemed really smart. But he was going to end a really good villain. One that I would probably have to take down one day. That is if I ever get out of this sticky situation.

"How do you have 103% in this class?"

"I did some extra credit."

"Makes sense."

"Pay attention you two," Mr. Jantz yelled at us, "Dean I expect you to teach the new student to behave in class. Do you want me to call your master?"

"No, sir," Dean said and bowed his head in shame. I was afraid that he was mad, but then I saw that he was hiding a smile.

Jinx spared at few glances back at me a couple of times, but she mostly let me talk and interact with Dean by myself. Mr. Jantz continued to talk and lecture the class, but I was messing around with Dean. I was completely caught off guard when he called on me to answer a question. Luckily Batman had been through all of this with me before so I knew what I was doing.

"You think you're all that don't you?" Mr. Jantz said to me as I finished writing down my answer on the board.

"Oh God, not again," This was the last thing I needed-another Mrs. Sand, "No, I just answered you question." I responded.

"How did you know this? You talked all period." He gave me this look.

I sighed, "I knew this from before. If you think about it it's not that difficult." I have no idea why I said the last part. It just came out. I regretted it as soon as I said it though.

Mr. Jantz was getting mad, "Well then, maybe I should just call Slade and let him know what you have been up to?"

"Go ahead! I'm already screwed, I'm sure you can't do anything that would make it worse. But if you want you could put in a good word for me and that might help." I said and shrugged.

"I want to see you after school." Mr. Jantz said and turned around thinking that this conversation was over. But it wasn't.

"Umm, actually I have to meet Mr. Knapp after school."

"Then I will see you after you meeting with Mr. Knapp. I will call Slade and let him know where you will be."

"Ok." I took my seat and whispered to Dean, "I am so screw Slade is going to kill me, literally."

"Don't forget your heart to heat with him tonight!" Dean giggled.

My jaw dropped. I had forgotten all about that. That was going to be the worst part of tonight. I can take the beating ,the starvation, the isolation, but this heart to heart was going to be hell. How, after all that happened today, how pissed he's going be at me, am I going to bring up that subject. I could just lie and say that I did talk to him and make up his side of the conversation, but the teacher for that class is Slade's master and Slade's master is bound to talk to Slade. There was no way out of this.

When the bell rang, Dean sped out of the door. I slowly got up, still wrapped in all my thoughts. Jinx came up to my side shaking her head, "Trouble just finds you. It just finds you." Jinx said, she seemed shocked.

"Hey, but really it's not my fault." I said, not believing it.

"Sure," Jinx cracked a smile. Believe it or not, I really am cute and I get most people to smile without even trying.

"Oh," I said remember the letter, "Here, the letter."

"Ok, I will get it to him as soon as possible. We have one class left. Business.

"That sounds like fun." I mumbled.

My next class went by slowly, uneventful. I was thankful for that. It was about time that I had a class that didn't go horribly wrong. Even though most the time my classes when horribly wrong, it was because I opened up my big mouth. When the bell finally rang I slowly got up, I didn't want to go make up the course for Mr. Knapp, it didn't sound fun at all. And Slade told me not to be late, but I'm sure he heard that I had to stay after to finish the course.

Jinx got up and walked out with me. We walked to her locker in silence. The teachers motering the hallways gave me dirty looks. I didn't make a very good impression, but oh well. I didn't want to here anyways. As Jinx threw her books into the locker I realized that she didn't work for anyone. So where did she live?

"Jinx," I asked, "Where did you go?"

She gave me a strange look.

"I mean, you don't work for anyone, so where do you live?'

"Oh, umm, the school has dormitories that the students can stay in when they don't have people to work for. But like once every month villains come here and look for apprentices. Sometimes kids gat taken always across the country."

"Oh, I see." I said.

"Yeah, you have to go to the gym to make up the course from this morning. I'll walk with you."

**Thanks for reading please review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**I want to personally thank jordylily777 for reminding me of Red X. I had completely forgotten about him until I read your review! So thank you, he will be in this chapter. I have a perfect role for him to play! Also I was rereading through my reviews and realized that I should probably answer your questions….so Is Jinx and Robin's relationship and friendship or romance? Umm…I intended it to be more of a friendship, but it has been more of a romantic. I want to keep it as a friendship though (at least for now) Will Batman be in this story? Most certainly yes! What will happen between Slade and Robin (my most common question) Read and find out! =)**

Jinx and I walked slowly through the halls. Most of the kids had cleared out by now, either they went home with their mentors or they went to their dormitories like Jinx will after she drops me off at the gym. I wonder just how many people here actually have mentors. I would think that most mentors would want to keep their apprentices with them at all time. Slade had intended to keep me with him at all times, but my depression got too server for that to be possible.

As we got closer and closer to the gym, I wished that my day was longer. I didn't want to go home. I didn't want to face Slade. I just wanted to crawl into a hole and die. But given the circumstances my day went pretty smoothly, or at least I think it did. To be honest, it could have gone a lot worse. But it also could have gone better too. I have mixed feelings about the day, but one thing was for sure, I absolutely did not want to go home to Slade.

"Whelp," Jinx said, clapping her hands together, "This is your stop. I will see you tomorrow, that is if you survive the night." Jinx cracked a smile.

I couldn't help it; I smiled a little bit despite my fear. Even though it was a meant to be a joke, there was truth to it. A truth that I didn't want to face, it was going to be hell tonight and I would be lucky if I got out of there alive. But Jinx was trying to make it better, so I let a small smile spread across my face.

"It's going to be okay," Jinx placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Robin," Mr. Knapp called after me, standing in the entrance of the gym, "Come on. I don't have all day and I doubt you have all day too."

"Alright," I called back to him; he nodded and turned to leave. I looked over to Jinx and whispered goodbye.

She said her goodbyes and left leaving me to face Mr. Knapp and his stupid combat course by myself. As I walked into the gym the smell of sweat and deodorant hint me. I wrinkled my nose. Mr. Knapp stood in the middle of the gym and writing on his clip board. Mr. Knapp stood at an angle, blocking someone. I tried to see who it was, but I couldn't get a good look from where I stood. I walked closer cranking my head to the side, but it was too late the person saw me first.

"Hello, Kid," he said. I moment I heard his voice I knew who it was. That unmistakable sound of the voice changer built into the suit. Red X.

"Hi," I mumbled. I didn't think he went to this school, I haven't seen him all day. Or maybe I just wasn't looking for him.

"Robin, normally I would have you redo the course, but it sounds like you have had a rough day and your going to have an even rougher night, so I will not force you to make up this course, but know that in the future you will have too. No exceptions. Okay?" Mr. Knapp told me without taking his eyes off his clip board.

"Yes Sir," I said, glaring at Red X.

Mr. Knapp walked out, without another word. Leaving Red X and I alone, together.

"So, you got yourself into a sticky situation, huh?" Red X asked.

"Shut up," I snapped back at him, "What are you doing here anyways?"

Red X shrugged, "Sometimes I come here and help the less brilliant, coordinated, and popular students. You know so they can be more like me, I have all three of those qualities by the way," Red X gave me a wink.

"Yeah, something tells me you where one of those students before you stole my suit." I accused him.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Actually I would."

"You're not going to get anything from me."

"I'm sure if I look hard enough I will find something," I threated and gave him a smirk. Honestly I wasn't sure that I would find anything, but I wanted to scare him with something.

Red X laughed, "I'm not here to fight; in fact I want to help you."

"Why," I asked him slowly. Why would he want to help me?

Again he shrugged, "We are alike in many ways, and well I like the way we had things, you on the good side and me on the not so good side. And I don't like seeing you here, your miserable and Slade's an ass. So lets call it a truce for now, until we get you back on the side that your meant to be on."

I was shocked, but stranger things had happened to me today, and I really wanted another person I could talk to about this whole situation. But, the little voice in the back of my head told me not to trust him. He was a criminal and he could very possibly be working for Slade, spying on me.

I wouldn't look at him, I wanted to bad to trust him, but I had been hurt by so many people in the past that I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I let my eyes drift over to the clock and I groaned when I realized that I still needed to go to Mr. Jantz's and serve a detention there.

"Look, Kid" Red said to me, placing a hand on my shoulder for comfort, "I know you don't trust, I don't even trust me, but you look like Hell. You've been to Hell and back. I don't want to see you here, this place drags a person down. I know from personal experience."

"Okay," I said taking a seat on the bleachers and Red followed, "I just I don't understand why me. You know? Out of all the heroes in the world, why me? Why am I so special? There are hundreds of students here that would love to be his apprentice, but it had to be me. Why?"

"You already know the answer to that." Red said while getting up, "Come on. You have to get to Mr. Jantz."

I slowly got up and we walked down the hallway to Mr. Jants , "What do you mean I already know the answer? No I don't."

"You do, but you refuse to acknowledge it. Now, I have to go talk to Mr. Simpson. Good luck tonight."

"Thanks," I muttered, but he was already gone.

I walked into Mr. Jantz. He was on the computer typing away. I cleared my throat to let him know I was here. I looked up briefly and handed me a stack of papers.

"Here," he said, "You can grade these, when your done you can leave."

The stack was thick, really thick. I would be here a long time. I sat there grading those stupid papers, it was dead silent. I was trying to avoid thinking about tonight, but the thoughts just keep poping back into my mind. I was only a fourth way through the papers when Mr. Jantz spoke up, "Robin, you can go now."

I looked at him, "Really?"

"Yep."

"Thank you," I said and rushed out. I hurried out of the building to find Slade sitting in the parking lot. I opened the door and slid in, careful not to look at him. It was silent for a long time. I knew he was looking at me. I felt the panic start to rise and tears started to form. I was scared, truly utterly scared.

"Robin," Slade growled, "Do you know how long I have been sitting here, waiting for you?"

Not, trusting myself to speak I just shook my head, but I did know exactly how long; 45 minutes. He had been waiting for 45 minutes.

"45 minutes," Slade told me. There was something in his voice that made me jump. He wasn't happy. He was utterly pissed. And I was terrified. I still wasn't looking at him. I just looked down at my feet. Tears started to form and before I could stop myself I let it slip, the question that has been on my mind sense the day I became his apprentice, "Why me?"

**Thank you for reading and keep reviewing! Please and Thank You!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Okay so I have written another story call The Apprentice, it's kind of like this one. I would appreciate it if you would read and review that one as well. And don't forget to review this story was well! I want to get to 100 reviews! Thank you in advanced! **

I am an idiot. A completely mindless, stupid idiot that didn't think things through, this was at least the third time today that I said something stupid. I couldn't help it though; I have to know the answer. I have to know why.

It was completely quite, it was eerie how quite it was. Slade was still staring at me, but he wasn't mad anymore. He just stared, thinking of the best way to answer my question. Red X said I already knew the answer, but I didn't. I didn't use to believe in gray areas; everything was either black or white, good or bad. But now my whole life was a giant gray area. I do what I have to do in order to keep people safe, so does that make me evil? I don't think so.

It was really starting to get awkward now as I just sat there looking down at me feet. I wanted him to say something, but dreaded what it was that would come out of his mouth. I know I am so screwed when I get home, but I wasn't trying to make things worse, honest. I just want to know why I'm so special. Why it had to be me.

Slade put the car in drive and started to drive away from the school. I expected him to take a right towards our hideout, but instead he took a left. He must of seen that I was confused because only seconds later he asked me, "Are you hungry?"

I found it an odd question, in my entire 6 months with him; he has never ever asked me if I was hungry. When food was placed in front of me, I ate. I was fed three times a day and that was the end, I was never asked if I was hungry or not. So I had to think about my answer, my stomach didn't growl, but I could eat if I had to. And it was Slade so I had too, "Yeah."

"Good. We are going to go eat at a restaurant meant for villains. We will meet Mr. Onen there; he wants to be there for this heart to heart conversation we are supposed to have. That way he can referee, so to speak. And taking in consideration the question you asked me when you got into the car, you want to have this heart to heart."

"No, not really," I thought, but instead just answered with a plain, "Yes, sir."

The awkward silence fell upon us once again. And after about twenty minutes we arrived at the restaurant. I had been to numerous high class restaurants with Bruce before, so I knew what a five star restaurant looked like. This was one of them. Five star restaurants where places that people had to behave at. I better be on my best behavior, because if I screwed up then I wouldn't be able to walk for a week. And that was the truth.

Slade and I walked in and waited at the front for a waiter to come and retrieve us. The place was really nice, nicer than most restaurants I've been to in a while. When the waiter came to get us, Slade explained who we were and who we were with. I might of just imagined it, but I thought the waiter shook with fear when Slade told him who he was. But I could have just as easily imagined it. The waiter led us over to a table set for four. I was about to ask who else would be joining us, but then I saw her. Jinx.

A huge smile spread across my face, this might not be so bad of a dinner after all. She came up and gave me a hug, Mr. Onen came up behind her, "Shall we take our seats?" he asked sitting down. We all took our seats. I was sitting next to Slade and Mr. Onen sat across from him. Jinx sat across from me and next to Mr. Onen.

"So," Mr. Onen said, "I need to have a few words with Slade alone. So why don't you two go up to the bar and get yourselves a soda."

"Alright," Jinx said and took the money Mr. Onen handed to her. She quickly stood and grabbed my hand and dragged me to the bar. We sat down on one of the bar stools and she ordered a coke and I ordered a Mt. Dew.

"So," she said as soon as the waiter left, "I mailed the letter to Batman."

"You did?" I stated more then asked, "That's great. This could all be over in a matter of days now."

"Yes, but Robin, you have to stay out of trouble. I know you don't want to do this, but you're going to have to really suck up to Slade. Make him believe that you have finally cracked and that you are now truly his apprentice," she said taking a sip of her coke.

I took a drink and asked, "Why?"

She gave me an _are you dumb_ look and answered with attitude, "That way he trust you. The more he trusts you, the more he will let you out of his sight. And when you're out of his sight then you can plan your great escape."

I had to admit it made sense and to be honest that had been my plan all along. I was going to wait until Slade thought I could be a criminal on my own, and then I was going to run straight for the Titans. But when Jinx said it, she made it sound like the whole plan would take a week; where else mine would take years.

It was quite for a while and then all of a sudden I said, "I have to have a heart to heart with Slade over dinner."

Jinx laughed, "I know Mr. Onen wanted me to come because he thought it would be best if I knew what you were going through. That way in the morning you didn't have to relive everything telling me what happened."

I chuckled and finished off the last of my soda. Jinx finished hers also and whispered to me, "It's going to be okay Robin. I promise."

We smiled at each other then got up to make our way back to the table to order our food. Slade and Mr. Onen had finished there conversation about me and where talking about how today's criminals were nothing more than kids just trying to have fun. I disagreed.

It wasn't long before a waiter with dark brown hair came and gave us out menus. He took our drink orders and walked off to help another table. There would have been a severe awkward silence if Mr. Onen wasn't there, he kept the conversation alive.

"So, Robin, lets just jump right in. I think the key for a having a healthy relationship with your master is discovering where and why your relationship with Batman failed."

Jinx and I both choked on you drinks at the same time. I coughed out, "Don't you think that's a little too personal? I don't see how that is going to help. My relationship with Batman is my business; if you want to fix it then you're going to have to call him."

Jinx took my side, "I agree with Robin…"

Jinx was cut off by Slade, "Nonsense. Robin, tell us what happened."

It was obvious that I had lost this, but I could lie. Or be very vague with the truth, or both. "Well," I began, "We started fighting a lot and I left." There that was all I would give them, but of course it wouldn't be enough.

"Why were you fighting?" Mr. One also known as Dr. Phil asked.

I sighed, "We just weren't seeing eye to eye anymore. Speedy got into some trouble and arrow kicked him out. Batman wanted me to stop associating with him, but he's my best friend, I wasn't going to do that. That just added to the tension. He always thought he was right, we could be arguing over what two plus two equaled. He would say it was it was five and I was say it was four and in the end I would lose. Cause he always had to be right. Then the Joker shot me and he told me I couldn't fight crime anymore. So I left and ended up here."

"You never told me that," Jinx said with concern in her voice.

"You never asked." I answered.

Jinx's concern turned to confusion, "Then why did you tell Mr. Simpson that you wanted the Joker to come and talk to the class?"

"I had to throw out my top villain. I didn't want to come, he'd kill me."

The waiter came back with a notebook, "Can I take your orders?" he asked.

"Umm," Jinx was the first to answer, "I'll have the three cheese lasagna."

"Me, too," I told the waiter.

"I'll have the lobster," Mr. Onen said.

"Nothing for me," Slade said and the waiter left.

"Robin, who do you feel the safest with and why?" Mr. Onen asked leaning in as if it were a big secret.

"Batman," I answered without hesitation. Then I added, "And Superman. When Batman was mad I would feel safest with Superman."

Jinx laughed, then her face fell and a confused look overcame her facial expression, "Who is that?"

We all turned to look and to my complete horror it was Cat Women and she was with someone I couldn't make out. I squinted and looked a harder and discovered that it was Lex Luther. I quickly slid down into my chair, hopping that they wouldn't see me. The last thing I wanted was them to come and make things worse. But I wouldn't be so lucky.

Cat Women swayed her hips back and forth as she came up to the table, "Robin, I have heard of rebellion before and I absolutely support it, it's healthy. But this is just crazy." She laughed and ruffled my hair.

Angrily I pulled back and fixed my hair, "What are you doing here? And speaking of rebellion, you're the one on a date with Lex Luther. Do you realize he could be your dad?"

She laughed, "Oh Robin, you've gotten so big. How old are you now?"

"Sixteen,"

"I remember you were just this little thing. Only up to my hips, what were you seven?"

I nodded and Lex called Cat Women back over. She came me kiss on the head and whispered, "I'll see you later," and walked off.

"Is she a good guy or a bad guy?" Jinx asked.

"Whatever side suites her," I answered with a smile. The waiter came back with a lemonade and handed it to Jinx.

"I didn't order this," she told him, but the waiter only smiled.

"This is from that man at the bar. He said that you look exceptionally nice today," the waiter continued to smile and then walked away, but not before telling us that our food would be ready in just a few moments.

Jinx and I both gracefully looked over to the bar to discover Red X sitting there. He looked over and gave us a small wave. I couldn't help but to laugh. Jinx joined in and asked, "Who is that guy. He has to be someone you know Robin."

"Why is that?" I curiously asked.

"Cause he acts just like you."

"No, he doesn't."

"Yes, he does. It's scary how much you act alike. And besides, this guy had to know you well enough to get to the suit."

"True, but nobody from my past acts just like me."

"Speedy," Jinx raised an eyebrow.

I laughed, "Uh, no. It's not Speedy."

"How do you know?" she asked with a smile.

"Why would Speedy want to steal the suite? Obviously the guy stole so he could spy on me. Speedy doesn't need to spy on me, we've been best friends sense we were seven. If he wanted to see how I was doing then he could of just stopped by."

Jinx's face lit up as she got an idea, "But what if it's not a boy? What if it's a girl?"

"Batgirl," I thought, "Maybe, just maybe. No, I couldn't be her. If it was her then she would have had Batman here to rescue me a long time ago. But maybe…"

"Robin," Jinx said bring me out of my thoughts, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just spaced out for a moment."

She knew it was a lie, but she also knew she couldn't press me into telling with Mr. Onen and Slade here. I gave her a look that told her I would tell her later, but for now we had to change subjects.

"Robin," Slade said, "On the way here you asked me why I had chosen you to be my apprentice. I chose you because you are the best. You're the smartest out of all the Titans and had the most training…"

Slade was cut off when the waiter came by to give Jinx some bread sticks, "From the man at the bar again," was all he said before leaving.

"Bread sticks…how romantic," Jinx said with sarcasm. And for a scary moment I realized that giving Jinx bread sticks was something Speedy would do, but it couldn't be Speedy or Batgirl. Could it?

I turned my attention back to Slade, "But don't you realize, I'm a hero not a villain. Wouldn't it make more sense for you to get a villain for an apprentice?"

"Robin," Mr. Onen said, "Did you know that Slade hasn't always been a criminal? He was once a hero, like you."

"What?" I asked, but before I could get an answer the waiter came back again, this time to ask Jinx want kind of salad dressing she preferred.

"Jinx," I said, "Obviously he wants to talk to you. Go over there and talk to him before he orders you a five course meal," I laughed.

"Fine," she grumbled, but got up anyways, "But remember it could be a girl."

I couldn't help but giggle as she walked away, but then reality had set and my mind started to spin. Slade had been a hero once before. But what happened? Why was he the way he was now? I turned back to both of them, but I refused to look at either of them, "What do you mean?"

"Jump City was once protected by a superhero group call the Protectors. Slade was the leader of them before I took him and forced him to work for me. Much like he is doing to you and Slade will tell you that it was the best thing that has ever happened to him."

I finally brought my eyes up to meet Mr. Onen's, "Well, it is the worst thing that has ever happened to me."

**Okay couple of things- I am making up a past for Slade, because I think it will fit into my story better. And this chapter is the longest chapter of my entire story! What do you think of that? Haha Also please please please read my other story The Apprentice! I put a lot of work into and I think a lot of people will like it, especially if you like this story, because they are similar. They are different, but also very similar. Here is the summary of that story-****The Brother Hood of Evil has won and they are selling the Titans to their enemies. Now they must learn how to live like criminals in order to see each other again.**


	13. Chapter 13

This was completely a waste of time. Did they really think that they would get me to become loyal to them like this? I was stuck having dinner with these two while Jinx went off to talk to Red X. What did he want anyways? I glanced over to her and Red, she looked bored out of her mind, but she also looked like she was trying to keep a smile off her face. I felt a pang of jealousy and then kicked myself for having it. She was just a friend; she was allowed to have other friends.

"You say that, but give it time," Mr. Onen assured me, "It will be the best thing that has ever happened. You will be so much happier once you let go of all your anger and accept what as happened. Think of it as a way to grow and better yourself."

These people are crazy. "What gives you the right to kidnap me and force me into this?"

"No one gives us the right Robin, we take it," Slade said evenly.

"I am not a thing!" I was almost shouting now, "I'm not a dog; you can't make me like you. You can't train me. I am a person with beliefs and morals, I can't just change all that, just because you want me as an apprentice."

"But maybe if you quite your sulking and knock off your poo me attitude, then maybe it would be easier for you to accept this and move on with your life." Slade said, his voice starting to get dangerous.

And I was starting to get mad, "What do you want from me? So what you train me to be a good villain? Then what? Am I supposed to go out and take over the world? All while fighting the Justice League and the Teen Titans? I can't do that, there my family." I crossed my arms and turned to Jinx, "Jinx, it's getting bad."

Her head quickly snapped up, "Coming," She sang and skipped over.

Taking her seat she asked, "So what did I miss? Did our food come yet?"

"Well," I said sarcastically, "No our food has not arrived yet, they think I am an object that can be owned, oh and just this one little thing I learned, it's no big deal, it's just that Slade used to be a hero. You know someone who saves people."

Jinx bit her bottom lip, "I thought you knew."

"You thought I knew?" I asked shocked, "How would I know that?"

"I thought everyone knew," she defended herself.

"This is good. Now Robin do you feel closer to Slade? Knowing that he has been through the same thing you're going through?" Mr. Onen questioned.

I was about to scream out that nothing will make me feel close to Slade, especially this, but Jinx gently kicked me, and I was reminded of our plan. Make them trust me, once they trust me plan my escape. "Umm, you know, I do. Yes, I feel like I can be understood now."

Jinx was fighting back giggles as she listened to me. I couldn't look at her; I would burst into laughter if I did. I hoped my answer wasn't too cheesy and I really hope they bought it. I am pretty sure they did. Mr. Onen had a smile on his face and Slade was more relaxed.

"Yes, we made progress," Jinx shouted with joy as the waiter brought us our food.

"So Robin, what could Slade do better?" Mr. Onen asked as he took a bite of his lobster.

I had to be careful with this one. If I said the wrong thing then I could end up in a lot of trouble. The last thing I wanted was to be in more trouble then I already was form this morning. But on the other hand if I played my cards right then I could really end up making my life easier.

"Robin is there anything you would like to change?" Slade asked in a deadly voice.

"Nope, not at all," I quickly said. No way was I going step into that territory.

"Now, Slade don't scare him. We are trying to make progress remember? He already said he now felt understood; don't ruin it because he may feel as if you doing something wrong." Mr. Onen scolded Slade and I had to hide a smile.

"Well, now that you mention it, I think that you yell too much and expect too much from me," I told Slade. What was I getting myself into?

"If you did as you were told, then I wouldn't yell at you," Slade answered, "As for expecting too much, I believe I expect as much as I should from you."

"Fine, if I do want I'm told, then will you stop yelling and punishing me when I don't deserve it? I have been through hell. In fact I'm still in hell, I just trying to pick up the pieces to I can move on." I told him and that was the truth, I was in hell.

"I think we made enough progress for the day. We will do this again next week, but for now we can just enjoy our meal and talk about things of less importance." Mr. Onen said, then started up a conversation with Slade.

Jinx smiled at me, "So how's your lasagna?"

"Good," I laughed. She was itching to talk to me, but she didn't want to say the wrong thing in front of Slade. I had to be honest I was still scared of the man. Mr. Onen said we had made progress, but there was no way Slade was going to let today go. I would be beat when I got home. No doubt about it.

The rest of dinner went by uneventful; Jinx and I ordered an apple pie to share. Slade and Mr. Onen went on talking about stupid things. I wasn't really paying attention. And even though I knew it was a bad thing to do, I kept on thinking about Slade and his past life. I mean how can someone like Slade used to help people? It made no sense what so ever and before I leave, I figure out the entire story.

Mr. Onen paid and Slade pulled up the car. I gave Jinx a hug and told her I would see her tomorrow if I survived the night. The ride home was spent in an awkward silence. The ride home wasn't all that long. Once we got home Slade roughly grabbed me by my arm and dragged me over the screen that showed my friend's bodies and slapped me.

My eyes stung, trying to hold back the tears. The force knocked the wind out of me and I was scared that my teeth had come loose. I tasted blood and ran my tongue over a large gash on the inside of my cheek. I absent mindedly wondered what happened, what did I wrong? But then it hit me, this was my punishment for today.

"Now," Slade said, "That is all you will get for all the trouble you made today. Sense we progressed so nicely, I will not punish you any more today. But if you ever cause as much trouble as you did today, you will not walk away from it. Understand?"

"Yes, Master," I mumbled.

"Good, now go take a shower and go to bed," Slade turned to the computers and started to type something into them. I stood there for a while, but then thought it would be best if I got a move on. I didn't want to upset him and get beat, my cheek would already leave an impressive bruise.

After my shower I crawled into bed, but I couldn't sleep. My thoughts kept drifting back to Slade and his past life. It was eating me up inside. If Slade was like me, then does that mean I will end up like him? It was bothering me so bad that I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned for two hours before I finally got up. I tipped toed through the hide and quietly walked up to Slade.

"What are you still doing up?" He asked turning to me.

"I couldn't sleep," I answered.

He sighed, "You can watch tv for a while if you want."

"Actually," I hesitated, "I want to talk."

"About?" Slade asked with curiosity.

"About you being a hero. I want to know the whole story," I answered.

**Yeah, so sorry to cut it off like that, but I still want to write more on my other story The Apprentice. I also want to watch Supernatural…so yeah. I will update probably tomorrow, if not tomorrow then the next day! Please read and review!**


	14. Chapter 14

"Well," Slade mused, "It's not a story I particularly like to tell."

"Mr. Onen said it was the best thing that has ever happened to you," I told him.

Slade hesitated for a moment, "Yes, it was, but not at the time it wasn't."

**Flashback (Slade's point of view)**

_The day started out nice, but then the clouds turned gray and dry lightning began to crack_

_across the sky. Rain gently tapped the windows, softly at first, and then began to beat down as if _

_the windows were drums. Thunder rolled and banged in the sky. It was a quiet day and_

_the Protectors and I just laid around and watched a movie. I can tell you every little detail _

_about my last day with them, but I can't recall the name of the movie. It has bugged me for _

_years, but no matter how hard I try I just can't remember. _

_Anyway, Igneous came in singing; she was the loveliest person I have ever met. Always_

_happy, never ever in a bad mood, no matter how bad things got she always looked on _

_the brighter side of things. Her curly, strawberry blonde hair hung a little past her shoulders._

_She had the ability to shoot fire from her hands, kind of like Starfire, but _

_more dangerous. There was more power to it. She was created from fire; her name even _

_means 'born from fire'. She always wore red, it was her favorite color. She wore bright_

_red lip stick and a red tank-top with white shorts. _

"_Hey, Slade," she skipped over to me._

"_Hey," I replied, scooting over so she would have a place to sit. She sat down carefully. She _

_was quiet. Something was wrong. Normally she would talk my ear off. We got along great,_

_but something was wrong. I gently placed my arm around her shoulder and asked, _

"_What's wrong?" _

_She sighed, she didn't want to tell me, but finally she gave in after a few minutes of me coaxing _

_her into it, "Do you find it strange that we haven't heard from Trogdor in a while?" It was _

_then that I realized her reasons for wanting to keep her thoughts to herself. Trogdor was _

_my worst enemy and we hadn't seen him for months. I had secretly hoped that he _

_had moved on to another city, but I knew it was a blind hope. Why would he leave a city he _

_worked so hard to take control of? _

_At that moment lighting lit up the sky and boom of thunder rang out as if it was the deep growl_

_of a dragon guarding a castle. A squeal of fright came from the other room and Violet _

_came rushing in. She plopped down on the couch and buried her face into my shoulder. _

_I laughed and gave her a hug. I couldn't see her face because her jet black hair was covering _

_it, but I knew she was scared. She hated thunder storms more than anything. When we first _

_met up with her, we found her cold, wet, and alone, in the middle of a thunder storm. She _

_never talked about her life before the Protectors, so I never knew what happed to her._

_Years later I did some digging and discovered her troubled past and made sure _

_she was justified, but that is another story for later. _

_I was about to say something to her, but Kal came in at that moment and beat me to the _

_punch. "You know," he said with an evil grin, "You have fought monsters, robots, ghosts,_

_and villains of all sorts, and you are scared by a little thunder?" _

_Violet looked at him, gave him a death glare, and smiled. She was always good about taking _

_jokes. She wiped a hand across her eyes, careful not to smear what little make-up she had_

_on._

_Ingneous quickly pulled her hair up into a ponytail and rested her head against my shoulder. _

"_Aww," Violet sang and Kal raised his hands. Violet giggled as she rose a foot into the air _

_and floated over to the other side of the couch. When Kal dropped his hands Violet gently fell _

_onto the couch, still giggling. Kal winked at her and sat down between both of us. _

"_How rude," I said as I turned to Kal, shifting Ingneous to the side so she would be _

_more comfortable. _

"_Oh, she had it coming," Kal said and ruffled her hair to the side with his big hands. _

"_Where is everyone?" Violet asked, trying to fix her hair, but it was futile attempt. It was _

_a complete mess, she would need a brush. Her hair was as thick as rope and so dark that it _

_looked violet. _

_I half-heartedly looked around the room, I knew we were missing two of our members, we _

_had a total of six. I occurred to me that I haven't seen those two all day. I started to worry _

_a little, but I quickly put my ill thoughts away, they can take care of themselves. _

_It wasn't long before Scorpio and Clover walked in together. Clover was wrapped around _

_his arm. Her thin, straight, red hair hung to her hips. Her pink lips spread across her face in _

_a warm smile. She was wearing a mini black skirt, the one she wore when she wanted to_

_feel attractive. Along with her black mini skirt, she wore a hot pink tank-top. That was_

_her favorite outfit and she wore it crime fighting once or twice. She never did have an _

_official uniform. _

_Scorpio was the meanest of us all. He had a rough and tuff look to him. His muscles could _

_make any weightlifter weep with jealousy and his teeth were as crooked and yellow as_

_a sharks. He wore all black, he thought color was a distraction and made him look weak. _

_He was one that even Trogdor wanted to push his buttons too much. Scorpio may have _

_looked mean and acted mean towards our villains and the occasional fan, but he was_

_a good hero and an even better friend. In the end, he would be the first to give up on me _

_then turn against me_

_Scorpio casual walked up to Ingneous and gently tugged on her ponytail. She screamed out, _

_more in surprise then in pain, and whipped her head around to see how the culprit_

_was. Ingneous tried to fight back a smile, but failed to when she saw Scorpio grinning at her. _

_Clover left Scorpio's side and sat down next to Violet. They started to talk. Ingneous felt left_

_out and hopped up and gracefully walked over to them, sitting next to Clover. As the girls _

_sat and talked, Scorpio sat down next to me and silently watched the movie play. _

_I slightly looked around and a satisfied feeling overcame me. Everything, for that one _

_moment, was perfect. Nobody was in danger or injured or fighting. We were just sitting _

_watching a movie like normal teenagers. I should have known that it wouldn't last. I _

_shouldn't have let my guard down. _

_The movie had only been over a couple of minutes before our alarm went off, indicating that_

_a villain was on the loose. We all sat up immiedatioly. All our attention was now focused on _

_the bleeping red light that flashed wildly through the room. Different villains ran through_

_my head, wondering which one it was. _

"_Finally," Clover shouted with joy, "Something to do!"_

"_No, kidding," Kal jumped in, "For a little bit I thought that we might have to retire early."_

"_Early retirement?" Violet raised an eyebrow, "Like I would give up crime fighting. If all _

_the villains left this city, I would just get up and follow."_

"_You're right," Scorpio said waking up to Violet, "We would follow."_

"_As a team," Ingneous chirped in, "We will always be a team." _

_Smiling, all I said was, "Let's do this."_

_It only took us ten minutes to get to down town Jump. Normally it would have taken us at_

_least fifteen. (It was different back then; we didn't have a car, so we had to run.) We were _

_so pumped to be doing something. It was 8:00 p.m and all we had done that day was lay around. _

_None of us would have guessed that the day that was so laid back would end in tragedy. _

_When we arrived our excitement and adrenaline faded and our hearts sunk, filling us with _

_dread. Glaring, evil looking, Trogdor stood tall and pound, already anticipating that he_

_would win. _

_We all stood still, nobody moving, not even Trogdor. It was a moment that still haunts me today._

_I have replayed that fight over and over in my head for years, wondering if I had _

_done things differently would I still be in this situation. Of course, you can't change the past, _

_no matter how wrong it seems. _

"_What do you want Trogdor?" I asked Trogdor with a fearless voice. I tried to act like _

_nothing was bothering me, like this was just a normal criminal and a normal fight, but I _

_couldn't. something was bothering me, something just didn't seem right. I wish I would of_

_just pulled the Protectors out and called it an retreat, but my pride and determination _

_wouldn't let me. _

"_You, know what I want," Trogdor snarled. "I am prepared to destroy this entire city, but I_

_will wait. I have a few friends that would love to take down the Protectors." Trogdor _

_laughed and sickening, evil laugh and then, out of nowhere, our top five villains surrounded us._

_I could physically see the panic starting to over whelm my team. I didn't think any of my _

_plans through, I just started shouting out orders, "Clover, attack Ritoous. Ingneous, take _

_down waterlala. Scorpio, handle Lady Mantisi. Kal, stop Dr. Banadna. Violet, get Talisha." _

_I shouted out the orders, never taking my eyes off of Trogdor. _

_Violet snapped her head around, "What about you?" _

"_I'm taking down Trogdor," I sped past her before she could argue with me. I knew it was a _

_bad idea. She knew it was a bad idea, but I had to stop him. It was the only way I would be_

_able to sleep at night. Knowing he was out and about just made my stomach hurt, and I _

_was certain that tonight was the night I was going to take him down for sure. I didn't know, _

_at the time, how wrong I was. _

_I ran after Trogdor, leaving the madness and chaos of the fight behind me. The sounds of _

_my team fighting got dimmer and dimmer the father I ran. I was worried about them, but at _

_the same time I had keep forced. Only worry about Trogdor. They are your team; they _

_are perfectly fine on their own. I kept telling myself that over and over, but it didn't stop me _

_from feeling guilty over leaving them to fight on their own. Those villains are hard to take _

_down when it's all five of us. It would almost be impossible to win with just one Protector to_

_a villain. _

_I followed Trogdor down a dark ally. Water splashed up at me feet as I ran through rain _

_puddles. My heart beat faster with every breath I took. It was so loud all I could _

_hear was…boom, boom, boom…it went on like that for five minutes. Then all of a sudden I _

_came to a dead end. My eyes quickly scanned the surrounding area, looking for a blind stop _

_that Trogdor might be hiding in. _

_I was breathing heavy and my heart was the only thing that could be heard…boom, boom, _

_boom, boom…I was in a dangerous situation, yet there was no way out. My back was up_

_against a wall. I spent a few minutes looking at every crack and crawl space in the alley_

_, never once looking behind me. I looked and searched for any evidence that Trogdor _

_was present, but I found none. It was when I turned around to make my way back to _

_my team that I came face to face with Trogdor. _

_I knew from the look in his eyes he had me right where he wanted me. The Protectors _

_were preoccupied with the other villains and I had nowhere to run. He slowly approached _

_me, taking smaller steps with each step he took. He was thoroughly enjoying himself. He _

_wanted to make sure I knew he was superior. I did. _

"_So, Slade," Trogdor spoke my names softly as if not to scare me, "I think we need to talk."_

"_No we don't," I snapped at him. I was really starting to get nervous. _

"_Yes, we do," he started to come forward again. "You see I have bombs place all over the _

_city and within a 500 mile radius of the city. With a push of a button, all those bombs will go _

_off killing millions of people, including your friends…"_

"_What do you want?" I snapped at him again. This was not how I planned the night to go and I was terrified that I would never see my friends again._

"_If you wouldn't interrupt me, then you would know what I want," Trogdor scolded me _

_while wagging his finger. "What I want is simple. I want you to come work for me, as an apprentice."_

"_No," I said without hesitation. _

"_Then don't, but know that defying me comes with a consequence. If you say no and refuse _

_me then I will blow up the city and surrounding areas. Your refusal will cost millions of_

_people their lives. Among those people will be your friends. The choice is ours." _

_Trogdor had a smug look on his face, he thought he had won. He had. I couldn't let everyone _

_die because I didn't want to work for him. I would become the one thing I swore I would _

_never be. I would betray my friends and my city, just so I could save them. It was the _

_ultimate price and I was willing to pay it. And I did._

**End Flash back.**

**Robin's point of view.**

I watched Slade and even though I couldn't see his face, I knew he was deep in thought. Out

of all the past I thought up for Slade, this was not one of them. He, much like me, did what

he needed to keep the things he cared for safe. We really weren't all the different, but one thing

I did know, was that if I couldn't get out of this situation and had to be a criminal all my

life, then I would never ever take a hero in as an apprentice.

"Slade," I whispered, "What happened? To the Protectors, I mean."

Slade looked up, "They still guarded the city for a few years. We fought almost three times

a week. Ingneous stopped coming to the fights and was the first one to leave the team.

Violet and Clover soon followed and Kal and Scorpio just quit. But before all that, Scorpio

took my spot as the leader. He was always the worst to fight, he hated me for leaving

and betraying them."

"They never knew the truth?" I asked, although I already knew the answer.

Slade shook his head, "No."

"And the bombs," I asked, hoping I wasn't on dangerous territory, "Are they still in place?"

"Trogdor or Mr. Onen as you call him, claims that they are still there, but aren't activated.

He told me that he shut them off when he knew he could trust me, but whether or not that's

the truth is up to you to decide. It's late Robin, go to bed." Slade said and turned back to

his computer.

"Wait, one more thing," I said. Slade didn't turn to look at me, so I just continued, "Where

are they now?"

"Go to bed Robin," Slade said, his voice even.

"I know you know," I continued to push.

"Robin," Slade's voice got deadly.

"Alright," I said giving up, "Good night."

**Thank you for reading! I'm sorry for not getting this up sooner, but my internet is out **

**of whack! In fact I am at McDonalds right now using their free wifi! Haha Well **

**I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Thank You and please review! Oh I **

**was thinking about writing a fanfic about the Protectors and their adventures. What **

**do you think?**


	15. Chapter 15

The next morning, after Slade had dropped me off at school, I rushed through the hallways looking for Jinx. I had stayed up most of the night trying to figure out a way I could use Slade's past to my advantage. I came up with a few ideas such as; find all the lost team members and make them convince him to join the good side again, and, well that was all I came up with. One thing that bothered me still was the idea that the bombs around the city may still be active. Mr. Onen seemed cool enough, but I don't think he'll be too happy to see his pride and joy leave the dark side.

I quickly walked to my locker and got my books for my first class, history's most successful villains, then scanned the halls for Jinx. I quickly found Mammoth and Billy Numerous, but no Jinx. I started to panic when I heard the bell ring, telling me to get to class. I had to think back to yesterday and recall where the class was. Yesterday seemed like a million years ago. Luckily I was saved when Kyd Wykkyd came up behind me and led me into the classroom.

Surprising the classroom was already full, even though the bell rang only a few seconds before. I looked for Jinx and was relieved when I found her sitting in back with an empty desk to her left. Grinning, I walked over and sat down. She looked over at me and raised her eyebrow in a silent question. I just shrugged and mouthed, "Tell you later."

Jinx winked at me as Mr. Simpson came in. He was calm, collected, and stress-free as he came in and sat on his desk. He looked around, examining his class and then asked, "What should we do today?"

Jinx rose her hand and answered in a sweet voice, "Nothing."

A chorus of yeahs and yeses rang through the room. Mr. Simpson chuckled and pretended to think for a moment. "Well," he spoke slowly rubbing his chin, "Why don't I make you a deal? You all need to write a 300 word paper on a villain, I need it on my desk tomorrow morning. So you guys can sit and do nothing, but I need your paper tomorrow."

Although I wasn't too thrilled about having to write a paper for homework tonight, I was willing to write it at home so I could have this time to talk things over with Jinx. I really just wanted to talk to Jinx. Mr. Simpson watched us for a few moments, making sure we all got the message, then sat down at his desk and got out a book to read. Some students moved around desks and others just simply sat on the floor next to their friends.

I followed Jinx over to the corner in the back of the room. I hadn't even sat down all the way before I started to tell Jinx everything, "I have an idea, one that may not work, but if it does then it could make a lot of people's lives easier."

"I'm listening."

"Well, you know how he was forced to leave his team, like me? What if we found his old team mates and brought them to him. He could tell them what happened and they could forgive him and he will go back to the good side and let me go."

Jinx scrunched her eyebrows together, "How do you know he will go back to the good side?"

"Oh, I guess I just figured he would." I honestly hadn't thought about the fact that Slade might not want to go back to being a hero. Just because I did, doesn't mean he does. And if he doesn't go back to being a hero then he won't let me go back to being a hero. Simple as that.

Jinx must have heard the disappointment in my voice because she turned to me with a small sympathetic smile, "I didn't mean that it isn't a possibility, 'cuz it is, it's just a slim one. It really is a good idea, but it has some small holes-one I don't know where any of his old team mates are. They could be anywhere, and without their real names, it could be impossible to find them. Second Mr. Onen, would never ever let Slade go back to being a hero. Slade's too good of villain to do that."

"You're right, I..." I started to say, but Jinx cut me off.

"I didn't say that I wouldn't help you with this crazy plan. I will help you. It won't be easy and it might get us into a lot of trouble, but I think it will be worth it."

She smiled at me and squeezed my hand. "Thank you," I said. "I really don't know what I would do without you."

"You would crash and burn,"'she sang with a grin. "But," she said deep in thought, "We still need to figure out where they are and how to get them to come back and talk to him."

"Yeah, Slade said they were pretty torn up when he left. I don't think the hardest thing is going to be finding them, it's going to getting them to come back."

"We still need to find them though, if we can't find them, then we don't need to worry about getting them to come."

"Slade knows where they are, I know he knows," I said while thinking of a way to get into Slade's computer without him knowing. That was going to be a impossible feat. "And we don't need to find them all, I'm sure if we find only one then they could tell us where the rest are."

"True, but we still need to find that one," Jinx whispered to me as one of the girls in the class walked past us, "I could ask Mr. Onen, but I don't think that he is going to like us poking around like that. Especially with that subject."

"No," I answered, "We can't let either of them know. They would shut down the operation faster then we could explain. Then we would probably be beat and I wouldn't be allowed to see you again. Jinx," I tuned to look her in the eye, "We can't get caught."

"Don't worry," Jinx shrugged, "We wont."

"Oh, by the way," I stated matter of factly, "There are still bombs planted around the city that Mr. Onen could activate at a moments notice and kill millions of people."

"Crap," Jinx said without looking at me. For a few moments we just started straight head, thinking about our crazy and suicidal plan. Then we both just busted out laughing.

"We are insane," I told her.

"No doubt," she was still grinning, but it slowly faded.

My grin soon followed her example and we were now sitting there grimacing.

"If Slade said that becoming a villain was the best thing that had happened to him, then how are we going to get him to realize that he needs to go back to the good side," Jinx mused out loud.

"He was lying," I told her and she looked at me and I explained, "You see when he was telling me the story last night, he didn't tell it in a tone that expressed gratitude or fondness. His tone was hard from repressed anger and hatred. I don't think he is at all happy with the hand he was dealt, I think that he just accepted it and moved on. And that is what he wants me to do. He wants me to just move and accept what has happened, just like he did."

"So Slade isn't our biggest threat," Jinx mused.

"No, Mr. Onen is. And he's in the perfect position to take us down at any given moment," I laughed without humor. It was ironic that the man I thought would help me through everything and make this place a safe haven, ended up being the person I had to watch out for the most.

"Yeah, but we can't show that we know anything or are planning anything. He will run straight for Slade. And Slade...wait, why is Slade still working for him?" Jinx asked, glancing around the room for an eavesdroppers.

"I think he's scared," I whispered, "He wasn't certain the bombs have been deactivated. He, after everything else he does, is still protecting the city in his own way. And the reason he won't leave the city is because he's waiting, hoping that the Protectors will return."

"How do you know this?" She asked with genuine curiosity.

"Because," I shifted my gaze towards her, our eyes meeting, "It's what I would do."

"So Slade isn't evil?"

"No, he is, he just wasn't born that way. He was created, molded into the thing he is today. We need to mold him back into the person he would have been if Mr. Onen hadn't done the things he's done. We have to fix Slade. Then, and only then, can I go back to being a hero."


	16. Chapter 16

**Thank you for all the reviews! Please keep reviewing it makes me want to continue to write this story. And believe me, there are times where I think "Wow, what a dumb story! Why would anybody want to read it?" But all your kind reviews show me that this story does have a pretty big fan base and that fact forces me to continue this story! And that is a good thing, because I want to see the ending of this story as much as you do!**

When the bell rang I quickly got up and grabbed my things. Swiftly I shuffled through the door with Jinx not far behind me. It was second period, also known as combat practice. Yesterday I completely failed at combat practice and had to make it up after school. Fortunately Mr... Knapp took pity on me and let me off with a warning, but he made it perfectly clear that if I ever failed again he wouldn't be nice about it.

I hoped the day would go by fast. It should, with everything on my mind. My head had been spinning all day every day for the past couple of days. So as long as I didn't get into trouble and was allowed to go home at a reasonable time tonight, things should be good. Although, if I got home early enough, then Slade would have me go on a mission or something, but that was better than being punished.

As I walked into the gym I was taken back by the sight of everyone in their everyday outfits and not in gym clothes. After a few more moments of staring, I shook my head and remembered when villains steal things, they aren't in gym clothes, they're in their regular costume.

"What's wrong?" Jinx asked as she came up behind me.

I looked at her with a sheepish grin, "Nothing, I just had a stupid radom thought."

"You have those a lot don't you?" She asked with her eyebrows raised.

I gave her a sheepish grin and smiled, "Yeah."

Mr... Knapp walked out with his clipboard. He didn't take his eyes off the board as he told us what the day's course would be. "Today all of you will have to pass this course in five minutes or less. Don't fail and we wont have any problems."

Mr... Knapp was still staring at his clip board and I realized that I have never actually seen his entire face. He never looked at any of his students, he always looked down or away. I wondered what his problem was. Why was he so afraid to look at us? Maybe, just maybe, he didn't want to be here either.

I shook me head clear as one by one the other students began to go through the course. They all passed and I started to worry. I didn't want to be the only person that didn't pass the course...again.

As Jinx gracefully got up and danced to the starting line, I quickly scrambled to my feet to follow her. I few other the other students laughed and others rolled there eyes. I made a mental note to quite making a fool out of my self.

Mr... Knapp nodded at us signaling us to go. I quickly ran through the course dodging lasers and kicking over robots. I just wanted it to be over as soon as possible. I ran as fast as I could and got to the finish line even before Jinx did. A small smile spread across my face as I press the red button at the end of the course.

Jinx came over and complimented me, "Nice job."

"Thanks," I said and we both walked over to the crowd of students.

It wasn't long before the bell rang and I found myself walking with Kyd Wykkyd to my next class. I swore to myself that I wouldn't upset Mrs... Sand today. Although I'm sure she will do everything she can to push my buttons, I can't let her get the better of me. It was all part of the over all plan.

Actually, come to think of it, I don't really know what my plan is. First it was to get Batman to come get me. Jinx mailed the letter, but how long would it take for him to get here? Then my plan was to behave and get Slade to trust me, but that could take years. Finally my latest plan is to get the Protectors to get Slade back on the good side. Which, out of all three of the plans, would be the one with the most long term success. The more I thought about it the more interested I was in in plan three.

I hate Slade, its no secret, but a part of me feels pity for the man. He, just like me, was taken from the only thing he had and forced into this life. So yes, I hated the man, but the hero in me had to save him. Even if he doesn't go back to being a hero, at least I gave him the option. In the end that's the only thing anybody can do. You can offer up your help, but if they don't want it, then you can't force them to take it.

When I walked into the classroom I barely noticed Mrs... Sand sitting in her desk. She's a heavier set woman and not at all pretty so she wasn't that hard to miss, but I was too distracted to even look in her direction.

I took a seat in a desk in the back. I was bored so I let my eyes wander around the room and they unfortunately landed on the Teen Titans poster that was hanging in the corner. I silently cringed, hoping nobody would notice, and tried to distract myself. I twiddled my pencil in my fingers, tapped my foot, and drummed my fingers along the desk. It didn't help much and I was relieved when Mrs... Sand got up and started writing on the board.

Mrs... Sand ordered us to take notes. I half heartedly took some of the notes she wrote on the marker board. I was tired of all the crap and lies that the people here tried to drill into my head. The more she talked the less I wrote down. I just tired of the lies.

When the bell rang I was the first one out the door. I quickly walked to my locker and got my books out. I had barely gotten my hand out of the door's way when Jinx skipped over and closed it on me. I gave she a look and she flashed me a smile. I wasn't too upset, I had already gotten my books out.

Together we walked to math. I was excited that we were going to math. It was the one class a day that I wasn't taught lies. It was a safe haven for a little bit, even if it was only for 45 minutes. Again the teacher had us take notes, but I didn't mind. Math was one of those subjects that you couldn't miss a step. If you did then you would be lost for everything that came after that.

All too soon my period of grace ended and I was off to my next class which was...Oh My God! My next class was the one that Mr... Onen taught. I thought that Mr... Onen was cool. He was relaxed, he was easy to talk to, he never got mad, and he was funny. I used to think he was the one adult that I could trust here, but as it turned out he was the one that I needed to look out for the most. He turned Slade into the monster that he was. If he could do that to Slade, then there was no telling what he could do to me.

"Hey," Jinx said, "What's wrong? You seem gloomy about something."

"I have to go to Mr... Onen's class next and you know how screwed up in the head he is." I answered her, shrugging.

"Oh," she said her shoulders slumping, "Just don't let him figure out we know about Slade's past and want to being those people back into his life. Just pretend like you hate Slade and..."

"I do hate Slade," I said a little irritated.

"Of course you do. Just act like you did yesterday, before you came up with this crazy plan. And we have a fifteen minutes break." She winked at me and took a seat by her locker.

I sighed and followed her. We didn't say anything for the entire fifteen minutes. I watched students walk back and forth. Some got chips from the ending machine, others just sat and watched like we were. A group of kids were talking loudly in the door way. I noticed that I wasn't center of attention today. People kept their eyes off me. I liked that.

All to soon the bell rang and I let out a deep sigh. I did not want to go to this class. It was the one class that I dread. I would even prefer going to Mrs... Sand's class then to his and that was saying something. It truly was.

"Good luck," Jinx said and gave me a little kiss on the cheek.

I blushed a deep shade of red. I could hear Jinx laugh as she walked away in the other direction. I was still blushing as I was left in the middle of the hallway. I started to walk towards my class when I got the brilliant idea to skip.

I laughed the idea off at first, but then the more I thought about it the more I decided I liked the plan. I just needed a place to hide out for 45 minutes. Without thinking I ran into the nearest bathroom and locked myself in a stall.

After a couple of minutes I realized that this probably wasn't the greatest idea in the world, but it was too late to turn back now. I sat on the toilet feeling like a complete idiot. Then out of know where I heard my name being called over the intercom.

My eyes grew wide and my heart began to pound as I unlocked the stall door. They called Slade. I know they did, I just know it. He is going to be so mad. What was I thinking skipping that class? How could I be so stupid? Of course Slade would find out. He always did.

I swallowed hard and walk to the office. I was pale white and my stomach was doing flips. As I neared the office I expected Slade to come storming out and demanding where I was. But instead Mr... Onen came rushing out.

His face held a look of concern and relief. He was worried I had escaped and he didn't want to be the one to tell Slade. Mr... Onen grabbed my arm and brought me into the office where the light was better. I quickly scanned the room, but there was no Slade. I let out a beat I was unaware that I was holding.

"Robin, where were you?" Mr... Onen asked shaking me by the shoulders.

"I..I wa-was in the bathroom," I managed to stutter out. I had really done it now. Mr... Onen was mad at me and he never got mad at me.

"What were doing in the bathroom?" Tiffany asked.

I had to think quick. I needed an excuses that wouldn't get me into trouble. Then it hit me, the perfect excuses, "I was puking. I wasn't feeling good so I went to the bathroom and well yeah."

"Oh dear," Tiffany came out from around her desk and placed a hand on my forehead.

"He does seem white," Mr... Onen commented and I fought back a smile.

"Well it is school policy that if a student is sick they are not allowed to attend any classes for that day," Tiffany said winking at me.

"Oh," I said, "Do I need to call Slade?"

"No," Mr... Onen answered, "Slade is out of town for a couple of days. You will be staying with me."

"Really?" I said. In the entire six months I have been Slade's apprentice he has never left town without me. It was strange.

"Yes, so lets go," Mr... Onen said.

I followed him out the door and into the parking lot. He suddenly had this cold deminor to him, instead of smiling his lips were pressed into a hard line. I was worried. I really hoped that he wasn't mad at me. Did he know I was lying? How could he?

Once we were in the car Mr... Onen handed me a cell phone and told me to call Slade and let him know what happened. I looked through the contacts and finally found Slade's name. I took a deep breath before pressing send.

While the phone rang I was silently freaking out. Mr... Onen calmed me down by telling me that Slade wouldn't be mad and then he winked. I let a small smile spread across my face and then let it drop when I heard Slade answer the phone.

"Yes," came Slade's cold voice.

"Slade?" I said, my voice shaking a little.

"What are you doing out of school, Robin?" Slade asked and he suprisenly didn't sound mad.

"I threw up."

I could here him sigh, "Alright. Well I guess as you probally know I'm not in town and will be gone for a couple of days. I don't know the exact date I will be home, but I can assure you it won't be more then two weeks. You will be staying with Mr... Onen while I am gone. Do not cause any probems. Do you understand?"

"Yes," I said. I wanted to ask him where he was, but that wouldn't be a wise thing to ask. I knew better then to go snooping in buisness that wasn't my own.

"Alright. Feel better. Now let me talk to Mr... Onen."

"Ok, bye," I said and gave the phone to Mr... Onen.

I didn't want Mr... Onen to think I was eavdropping so I turned and faced the window.

"Two weeks?" Mr... Onen said the moment the phone was in his hand. "I want you home sooner than two weeks."

I couldn't hear Slade's end of the converstion.

"It's not about Robin. I know he will behave and I would love to keep him for two weeks, but I don't approve of what you're doing. The sooner you're home the better."

I wondered where Slade could be that Mr... Onen didn't approve of. It was weird to think of Slade taking orders from someone. I had to crack a small smile at that thought, but then I quickly turned my atteniton back to Mr... Onen and Slade's converstion.

"I knew you're an adult, "Mr... Onen said, "I know you can make your own decisoons, but I don't think that it's a good idea. I'm telling you this because I care about you. Do you remember the last time you made one of these trips? I do and you were a mess. I want you back before Friday." Mr... Onen didn't even wait for a response before he hung up.

It was silent for a few mintues then Mr... Onen said, "Robin? I have something for you."

I turned to look at him and he handed me a cell phone, "Here I got you this when Slade told me you were going to be out of town. There are only three numbers programed into it, mine, Slade's, and Jinx's. I motified the phone so those three numbers are the only one's you can call. If you call a strange number then the phone will immedatly deactivate and both Slade and I will be notifed immeadtly and you will be in a world of trouble. Do you understand?"

"Yes," I could bearly mutter the word out. I was so shocked that I was allowed a phone. A phone. A device that I could call and communicate with people with. I was beond happy. I could talk to Jinx anytime of the day. Of course I wouldn't be able to call Batman or the Teen Titans, but I would be able to talk to Jinx. That was all that mattered at the moment.

We continued to drive for a another ten minutes when Mr... Onen pulled into the driveway of a huge white house. I gave him a weird look. And he laughed shrugging, "What were you expecting?"

"I don't know. Not a house," I said, shock still clearly present in my voice.

"Yeah, I grew tired of secret lairs. I just wanted a house after Slade moved out and that was the perfect time to get one."

Mr... Onen walked through the front door and I followed soon after. I was amaszed at how nice the house was. It was clean and very open, very light. It was so much nicer then Slade's lair. The couch was white and a 60" inch tv sat in front of it. I was thrilled to be staying here for the next two weeks. It was going to be a nice change.

"Okay, Robin, make yourself at home. I have to go back to school, but I will be home a four. You can have anything in the fridge and the remote is on the coffee table. Stay in the house. In fact, I hate to do this to you, but I don't have a choice," Mr... Onen said as he pulled out a thick metal braclet out of his bag. He ruffly grabbed my wrist and before I could figure out what was happening the metal braclet was around my wrist.

"What's this?" I asked even though I already knew what it was. It was a monitor that made sure I stayed right here.

"If you even take a step outside this will go off and shock you. It will continue to shock you until I turn it off. And believe me it isn't a light pain. It brought Slade tears one night. And I don't shut if off right away. I leave it on until I think you have had enough. I once kept it on Slade for six hours after tried to run. He was sobbing in pain within the first half-hour. I don't take this lightly."

"Yes, Sir," was all I could say. I was scared. This was the first time I had been truely scared of him.

"I have to go. Goodbye."

"Bye."

I turned on the tv and waited a half hour before I got up and started to snoop around. I wanted to make sure that he was truley gone before I went looking for clues to finding the Protectors. I figured if anybody had something that would help find the protectors it would be Mr... Onen. I'm sure he kept close tabs on them to make sure that they stayed away from Slade.

I searche in the basement first and found nothing but old blueprints and guns. Next I searched the closets and that ended up being a waste of time. I didn't know my way around the house and just opened every door I could find and if it looked interesting I would go in. That was how I found Mr... Onen's room.

At first I was releuctant to go in, but then I thought about it and realized that going in would't be that much of a risk as long as I put everything back exactly the way I found it. And besides, if you were going to keep something really important hiden wouldn't you put it your room? I would.

I looked in his dresser, under his bed, and in his closet. I wasn't having any luck until I found a small chest in the back of the closet. It was heavy, really heavy, and I hoped that it was unlocked. When I got it out I prayed that it was unlocked while I pulled the on the top. It opened, it was unlocked, and it was stacked full of papers.

I shiffed through all the papers and when I got to the bottom I found what I as looking for. It was a peace of paper that had all the Protectors current address, occupation, and family status. I quickly grabbed my phone. It was 12:57 Jinx would be at lunch. I was certian she would answer.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Jinx? I know how to contact the Protectors."

**Merry Christmas! Please review! I hope you all have wonderfull Christmas and a happy New Year!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Warning: Extreme make out session**.

I shifted through all the papers and when I got to the bottom I found what I was looking for. It was a piece of paper that had all the Protectors current address, occupation, and family status. I quickly grabbed my phone. It was 12:57. Jinx would be at lunch. I was certain she would answer. I impatiently drummed my fingers along my thigh waiting for her to answer.

After two rings she finally answered, "Hello?"

"Jinx? I know how to contact the Protectors," I told her all in one breath.

"What? How?" She hissed into the phone.

I was snooping through the things in Mr. Onen's room an…"

"What?" Jinx screamed into the phone. "Robin, you have to put everything back exactly the way you found it! This is serious. If he finds out you were in his room there was no telling what he will do to you."

"Relax; I will put everything back the way I found it. Promise," I said trying to reassure her. But I had to admit the way she freaked out startled me a little. I knew the risk of snooping around in his house, let alone his room, but I needed to get this information. This information could change everything.

"I don't think you understand. He will comb through the house to make sure you weren't doing anything that you weren't supposed to," Jinx said with concern.

"You know, you're starting to sound really redundant." I told her with a monotone voice.

"I'm sorry, but we have come too far for you to screw things up and get taken away forever."

"I'm not going to get caught. I'm good at sneaking around and all." I knew she was right, but desperate times call for desperate measures. And I was going to do whatever it took to get out of here a hero.

The silence on the other end of the phone told me that Jinx was either rolling her eyes or pinching the bridge of her nose if frusteration. I had the amazing ability to rub people the wrong way, so it was probably the latter.

"Look," Jinx said, finally breaking the silence. "I know things are hard for you at the moment, but that doesn't give you the right to be completely nonchalant. Think before you act and use common sense. What happens when Slade finds out what we're doing and takes you then across the world?" I was about to answer, but she didn't give me enough time to speak. She was on a roll. "I will tell you what happens. Slade takes you away and I never see you again. You never see the Titans again and then you become an extremely bellicose man."

"You know, your tone is very adverse. But you're right. I promise I will be more careful," I told her, but I really didn't mean it. I'm going to do whatever it takes to get out of here, even if that means taking things to extreme and throwing caution into the air.

"Robin, I really don't think you under…wait, how did you call me? Are you using Mr. Onen's phone too? Are there no limits to your insanity?" Her voice sounded run down, like she hadn't slept in days.

"He gave me my own cell phone, thank you very much." I told her with a smug look. But I quickly wiped it off when I realized that she couldn't see it.

"That's odd, why would he give you a phone?"

It was a rhetorical question, I knew, but I couldn't help but give a sarcastic remark. "Because I am just that special."

"Huh, I'm sure."

"I am, but regretfully there are limitations to this phone. Such as I can only call you, Slade, and Mr. Onen. You wanna hear the sad part about that though? You three are the only people I talk to."

"Aww poor Robbie Poo, it not their fault you have no social skills and can't make any new friends." She snickered.

I was about to give her my opinion, when I heard the one sound that nobody wants to hear when they are snooping around in some place they aren't supposed to. The front door open. I nearly dropped the phone as my heart jumped into my throat. I took a deep breath and got up quickly. Everything was happening so fast I didn't have time to process what I was doing. I hung up on Jinx and threw all the files and paper work back into the box and tossed it back into the closet. And shut the door as quietly as I could.

I swiftly, but gracefully walked out of the room and shut the door behind me. I mentally kicked myself for not putting the papers back the right way. That dumbass move could cost me everything. It was a mistake that I couldn't take back. I just hoped with all my heart that it wasn't a mistake that would prove fatal to my escape plan.

"Hello?" A female voice called out.

I suddenly froze with shock and confusion. Why would a girl be here? I felt my eyebrows knit together as I slowly walked down the hallway. "Hello?" I answered her.

Just then a very thin girl with long blonde hair peaked around the corner. Her eyes were ice blue and her skin was pale. She couldn't have been any old than I. Her white skirt barely reached her knees and her white tank-top and a flower on the side. "Hello," she said again.

"Hi," I said walking up to her. "I'm Robin."

"Emily," she said, sticking her hand out for me to shake. When our hands made contact she added, "I'm the house keeper."

"The house keeper?" I asked with raised eyebrows.

"Well yeah, you think Mr. Onen cleans his own house?" she said with a smile.

"Now that you say it, no I don't." I said while moving out of her way. She walked past me and into the bathroom. I watched as she got down on her knees and pulled out the toilet cleaner. She started to scrub the toilet and I felt extremely rude for just standing there and watching. "Do you need any help?" I offered as I got down onto my knees.

She raised her hands and said, "Oh, no, I can't ask you to help me. I get paid to do this myself."

"But you didn't ask, I offered." I countered as I grabbed the bottle from her hands and sprayed the toilet.

Sensing she lost the argument she let me continue while she started up another conversation, "How long have you lived here?"

"Oh I don't live here; I'm just staying for a couple of days."

"Oh I see." She turned to me and just stared. It was uncomfortable to say the least, but she was pretty. A small strand of hair hung in her face. Her long, black eyelashes made her blue eyes sparkle. She small red lips lifted up into a small smile. My head was spinning. What happened next was out of my control. I reached over pulled the hair out of her face, leaned in and gently kissed her on her red lips.

It was amazing, my heart fluttered and my stomach dropped. I could faintly smell her perfume, vanilla. When I pulled back I looked up and our eyes locked. I couldn't explain why I just did what I did. I just felt so right. She was so perfect, I couldn't help it.

She looked away first. Trying to avoid the awkward silence that I knew was coming, I hastily asked, "Shouldn't you be in school?"

"Shouldn't you?" she snapped back with an attitude that reminded me of Jinx.

"I…Well…"I tried to explain, but she interrupted me.

"My parents were killed in a car accident a few months ago." She said with sad eyes. "It was a late and they went to the store to get some fruit snacks for my brother who was sick. They walked in and as they were about to check out some guy with a gun walked in and just started shooting. My father was shot and on the way to the hospital their car was hit by a drunk driver. They were killed instantly. I was left with my two year old brother. I knew we would be separated if the police ever found us, so I got jobs as house keepers and janitors and told everybody that Sammy was my son. Mr. Onen was super nice. He has me come and clean three times a week, even though he really only needs it once every two weeks. And he always pays a little extra."

"I'm so sorry," I said, "I lost my parents too."

"Come with me," She said as she got up. She took my hand and led me to the couch. She watched me for a while and then lunged at me. Our lips locked and we started making out like animals. She laid down on top of me and I licked her lips asking for permission to enter. My tongue explored her mouth and my hips bucked up into her. She let out a small moan and broke the kiss to lick my ear. I arched my back in pleasure.

Emily suddenly got aggressive and bit my neck. I ran my hands along her small frame and her hips into mine and started to grind into her. She let out a deep growl and grabbed my wrists. Then she stopped cold, she didn't move, she didn't breathe. Thinking I had done something wrong I looked up at her. She wasn't looking at me at all, she was looking at my wrists. She was staring at the metal bracelet on my right wrist.

"I have the keys. I can get that off." She whispered.

"What?" I said sitting up suddenly.

She slid off me and explained, "I know where the key to that is. It's in the vase under his bed. I found it one night as I was vacuuming. I asked him what it was, he had no reason not to tell me, and so he did. I didn't think he would ever use it on someone."

"We have to get that key." I told her as I jumped up. I ran into his room and crawled under the bed. It was dark and I couldn't see very well. I swung my hands around franticly until they came in contact with the vase. I wrapped my fingers around it tightly and shimmied my way out from under the bed.

Emily grabbed the keys and roughly took my wrist. She jammed the key into the bracelet and turned it to the left. A sickly click could be heard as the locks in the bracelet were coming undone. The bracelet fell to the ground with a soft thud. We both stared at it for a few minutes. Emily leaned in and for a split second I thought she was going to kiss me again. But instead she whispered into my ear, "Her name is Lily Dale.Igneous' name is Lily Dale. Run."

She didn't have to tell me twice. I gave her one last kiss on ran as fast as I could out the door. The cool air felt good on my sweaty forehead, but it burned my lungs. I ran as fast I could. I couldn't believe I was going home. I was going back to the Titans. I would explain everything and together we will take down both Slade and Mr. Onen.

I let out a laugh. I had finally done it. I escaped. I felt bad for leaving Emily. There was no telling what Mr. Onen would do to her when he found out, but I wasn't too concerned about it. It wasn't my problem. I also felt a little guilty for leaving Jinx, but I figured she wouldn't mind too much. I mean this was going to be the end result of our plan anyway.

I was starting to slow my pace when a pair of strong arms grabbed my waist. "No," I screamed as the person grabbed me and pulled my close to them. "Let me go," I shouted as I tried to fight back, but it was a futile tempt they were too strong.

"Robin," Slade's voice rang through my ears, "Stop you are only making you situation worse."

I slumped into his arms and let a few tears slip out of my eyes. I was so close and now it was gone. A whole bunch of what ifs ran through my mind. What if I ran faster? What if I didn't run at all? What if I didn't leave Batman's side? What if?

Slade had a death grip on my upper arm. He didn't say anything as he dragged my back to the house. He didn't seem mad, he just seemed determined. He knew I would run. He couldn't have been surprised.

When we got back to the house Mr. Onen had Emily by the shoulders. She was screaming and crying, "Robin, please. They made me do it. They made me. They told me I couldn't go home. They stole me from my mom. Please I'm so sorry."

That was when I realized I was set up. She wasn't a house keeper and her parents weren't dead. Mr. Onen and Slade kidnapped her, stole her from her home and forced her to do this to me. They made her set me up. It was a test and I failed. I mentally kicked myself. How could I have been so stupid?

"Shut up, Girl," Mr. Onen growled as he shook her roughly back and forth.

"Emily, it okay." I told her as Slade lead me up the stairs and into the house.

"Get on the couch." Slade said as he threw me into the sofa. "Robin, I am very disappointed in you."

"Let her go." I told him.

"I have no control over what my master does to her." Slade said in an even deadly voice.

Just then, Mr. Onen shoved Emily though the door. She tripped over her feet and would have fallen on her face if Slade hadn't reached out a grabbed her. It was a small act of kindness, something that I didn't see often in Slade. But Mr. Onen was not going to have it. He grabbed Emily and disappeared into the kitchen. I heard a door open and Emily screamed. The loud slamming of the door was still ringing through my eyes minutes later.

Mr. Oned walked back into the room and glared at me. I could tell he wanted to yell at me and beat me, but he knew it wasn't his place. It was Slade's. And what scared me the most was that I couldn't' read Slade, I never could. I didn't know what he was thinking or what he wanted to do to me at the moment.

To my surprise Slade turned to Mr. Onen and said, "Let the girl go."

"You don't tell me what to do. You know that." Mr. Onen said evenly.

Slade knew he was on unstable ground, but he continued to press the issue, "You have no use for her. Let her go."

"No."

"You made a promise to her. Keep it." Slade's voice was starting to get deadly.

"It's not her Slade. You can pretend all you want, but Emily isn'tIgneous." Mr. Onen said with a sick smile spreading across his face.

That's when I remembered what Emily said to me right before I ran. Lily Dale was Igneous' name. I had a name I could work with now. If I find her then I could put my plans into play. Lily Dale. A name has never felt so sweet on my tongue.

"Robin, let us go." Slade said has he grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the door.

"Slade wait." Mr. Onen called out after us.

"Master," I also called out when I realized that we would be leaving Emily alone with that monster.

Slade stopped dead when he heard the word master out of my mouth. He knew that I only called him that when I was in extreme trouble. I wasn't in any trouble, at least not right now at this moment. He looked at me and then looked at Mr. Onen.

"We can't leave her here." I pleaded with him.

"I'm sorry Robin, but Mr. Onen was the one that took her. He can do as he pleases with her." Slade said and without looking at Mr. Onen he walked out the door. I followed him, ignoring the muffled screams that came for Emily.

I got into the car and just silently looked out the window. I was angry that we left her with him. There was no telling what he would do to her. Yet at the same time I felt hope. Slade tried to stand up to Mr. Onen and save her.

"Master," I said. I used master because I knew I was in deep water for running. I might as well start sucking up now. "How long did it take for you to accept this life?"

"Three years." He said. "Robin, this wasn't my idea; to take Emily and have her do this to you. I would have done the same thing if I was in your shoes."

"I will never be like you." I told him.

He looked at me, "That's what I said to my master 20 years ago."

**Please review! The more reviews I get the faster I update!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Okay so I have been writing this story little by little over the last two weeks. I would really like to apologize if this story isn't as good as it should be. I am really trying to make it good, but I'm really bad at actions scenes and I prefer to write about all the drama parts of this. But I promise to try to put more action in! Now I finally wrote the Protectors and I would appreciate if you would read it and tell me if you like it. Oh and please, please review.**

The ride home was awkward. I tried to keep my eyes on the window, but I found it difficult. In the past few days things had gotten so complicated. Never before in my apprenticeship with Slade had I been so close to escaping, but neither have I been so tired and run down. I really wanted to get Slade back onto the good side, but I knew that he was too far gone.

Part of me wonders if I was too far gone to. I was going to leave Emily today. When I ran I wasn't thinking about her and the trouble she would have gotten in. Of course it was all set up, but I didn't know that when I ran. All I was thinking about was getting out of there. The hero in me got buried with selfishness.

"I was going to leave her today," I mumbled into the window.

"What do you mean? You wanted to take her," Slade said trying to make me feel better.

"No," I said so quietly it was almost a whisperer, "Before, when she took the wrist bracelet off. I just ran. I knew, deep down, that she would be in so much trouble, but I couldn't bring myself to take her with me. She would have just slowed me down."

"But you wanted to take her. That's what really matters."

"But I didn't. Slade I don't want to be you," I said, even though I knew I he wasn't going to say anything that would make me feel any better.

"Robin, you don't have a choice. You need to learn that. How long are you going to keep up this poor me attitude?" Slade asked his voice even. At least he wasn't getting angry.

"Never," I grumbled and stared out the window again. I hated being so weak. Part of me just whished that I could accept this life and try to be happy again, but then the other part of me screamed and said that there was still a chance to get out of this situation. But what if there wasn't a way out, what if this is what the rest of my life is going to be like?

I sighed, "What if I changed? What if I'm not the hero that I used to be?" I honestly didn't know why I was opening up to Slade. It scared me that I was being so open, but at the same time I knew that he was the only one that could understand what I was going through.

"Robin just take it day by day, it will get better. I promise," Slade said as he took a left.

After living with Slade for six months I knew that this was not the way to the lair. We were going somewhere else. Panic started to rise in my stomach. I desperately tried to read the street signs, but we were going too fast and my mind raced to quickly to register what was going on.

Slade must have picked up on my panic because he slowed down and said, "Relax. I still have to go out of town for the rest of the night and I don't want to take you and you can't stay with Mr. Onen. So you are going to stay in the dorms at Hive Academy."

"What? Really?" I asked. I was kind of excited. Not only do I get to get away for both Slade and Mr. Onen, I get to spend the rest of the day with Jinx.

"Yes. Do not cause any problems," Slade warned. "I am trusting you. If you blow this then you will have no more chances to earn my trust."

I was trying to think of something to say when we pulled up to the front of the school. I was so shocked that he would allow me to be alone after the stunt I pulled today. But I wasn't going to say anything. I was just happy I got to spend the rest of the night with Jinx.

I quickly jumped out of the car. I thanked Slade and ran into the school without waiting for a response. The large doors opened and I immediately scanned the room for Jinx. I didn't' know where she would be. We never talked about what she did after school; we just talked about my problems. I feel a little guilty that we always talk about my problems, but come on; I had more problems than anyone on the face of the earth.

I had only been in school for two days and I really didn't know where everything was. I just stated to randomly walk around looking for anybody that I knew. It was really eerie being in school after hours. It was silent, no noise. I kind of felt like I was in some sort trouble, like when Slade was really angry at me he just sat there very still for a few hours before I was punished.

"Robin?" I heard someone call my name. I tuned around to see Billy Numerous walking up to me. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Umm, Slade dropped me off, said I would be staying here for a couple of days." I answered feeling stupid.

"Oh, well come with me then. Jinx and the others are in the gym." He said and walked past me. I silently followed feeling even more awkward and stupid then I did before. I rarely ever talked to anyone other the Jinx.

When we got to the gym I was greeted by Kyd Wyykyd, Jonny Rancid, Red X, and a few others. None of them asked any questions. They were all sitting on the bleachers as random students where on the court shooting hoops. Kitten scooted closer to Jonny so I could have a seat next to Jinx.

"So your back," Jinx giggled, "You just can't stay away can you?"

"Oh you know that I just love this place so much," I laughed along with everyone else and it felt nice. Really nice.

"Jonny," Kitten said, "I will give you ten dollars if you can make a shoot form the half court line." Kitten gave him and evil grin as she challenged him.

"You are on," he said as he got up and walked to the middle of the court. All eyes were on him as he shoved another person out of his way and grabbed a ball that just happened to be rolling across the floor at that moment. He pretended to aim, I knew he didn't have enough basketball experience to know how to aim, but he was still going to put on a show for us. He bent his knees a little and then jumped up into the air, he released the ball. It felt like time had slowed down, but I knew it was just my imagination_. Swoosh _the ball went in. Kitten groaned and the rest of us laughed.

Jonny did a victory dance as he strutted back to us. He was waving his arms in the air and pumping his fist up. "That," he said, taking a seat next to Kitten, "will be ten dollars."

Kitten grumbled as she dug into her purse for a ten. "That was nothing but luck, Buddy," she said with a smile as he slapped the ten dollars into his hand.

I was surprised at how normal they all seemed. They were laughing, talking, and shooting hoops just like I would have if I were with my friends. I know that their teenagers and people too, but I was so caught up in the fact that they were criminals that I forgot that they were people too. I was ashamed of myself. How could I have been so narrowed minded?

"Luck had nothing to do with it, Sweetheart," Jonny grinned. "That was pure talent."

"Uh huh," Kitten raised an eyebrow, "I'm sure."

"Hey, what's playing tonight?" Billy said a little startled, like he had just forced himself out of a deep thought.

"Playing?" I asked, not sure what he meant by it.

"Yeah," Kitten answered. "Every night in the auditorium they play a movie. I don't know what they are playing tonight though."

"What else do they do here?" I asked. I thought it was interesting that they had things set up for the students. I figured that living here all day every day would be absolutely terrible, but maybe, just maybe I was wrong.

"Well," Jinx started to explain. "Dinner is from five to seven. The gym is open till nine. Every night a movie gets played in the auditorium at seven thirty. There are classes you can sign up for; like art and music. School newspaper is another one. Just stuff like that." Jinx shrugged to show that it wasn't that big of a deal.

"We can also leave too, as long as we ask first." Mammoth said.

"So what is playing tonight?" Red X said, finally speaking.

Kitten examined her nails. "I don't know, but unless it's like the most amazing movie ever, I'm not staying. Pretty Little Lairs is on tonight."

Jonny rolled his eyes, Red X groaned, and Jinx laughed. I watched Pretty Little Lairs with Starfire every week when I was still a Titan. I liked it the show, it kept me guessing and even with my sharp detective skills I could never figure out who A was. It did get tiring though when I had to explain to Starfire every little thing that happened. She really was too naïve and innocent for a show like that.

"I can't believe you still watch that show." Red X said as he got up and started to leave.

A confused look over came Jinx. "Where are you going?" she called after Red.

"I'm going to see what movie is playing." Red X said. He didn't even turn around to look at us when he answered.

"What time is it?" Jonny asked.

Within two seconds Kitten pulled out her phone. "5:07." She said and then put it back into her purse. "I don't want to eat till six."

"I agree." Jinx said.

Kitten's phone went off. "Oh, hell no," she screamed when she read it.

"What?" I asked startled, my hero instincts kicking in. That little outburst earned me blank stares from everyone.

"This girl, Cara," Kitten said and I could tell she was about go off.

"Who?" Jonny asked.

"The fat girl with pigtails," Kitten said with clear disgust.

"Oh," everyone but me said. I was still in the dark.

"Yeah, well she told everybody that I cheated on Fang with Punk Rocket. And now everyone thinks I'm a slut with bad taste in guys and Fang wants to take a break." Kitten through up her and blinked fiercely.

"What a bitch," I said, not completely aware of what was coming out of my mouth. I was shocked again by how normal they were. This was something that actually goes on in high schools. I never would have thought that it went on in a school like this.

Jinx started to laugh, "Yeah, Robin she is."

Red X came back, slipping in between Jinx and I. "_Mrs. Doubtfire_," he said.

"Pretty Little Liars it is." Kitten said in a smooth voice while examining her newly done nails.

"You watch it every week," Jonny tried to reason with her. "Stay and watch the movie with us."

"I watch it 'cuz it's a show that you have to watch every week," Kitten rolled her eyes, "you know so you know what's going on."

"Come on," Red X butted in, "Just watch it with us. This is the first time Robin will be joining us."

Kitten's eyes scanned over my face and when her eyes meet mine she sighed, "Alright I'll stay."

"Don't stay on my account," I mumbled. I really did want her to stay, she was interesting. But I don't want to be a nuisance to her. I kind of wanted her to like me.

Kitten laughed, it was a soft pretty sound. "I'm not staying just for you. I do enjoy watching movies with all of you guys."

"Yep," Billy Numorus said standing up. "Its 5:33," Jinx said looking at the phone in her hand. "Do you guys want to start headed towards the cafeteria?"

"Works for me," Mammoth said following Billy Numorus' example and stood up too.

One by one we all stood up; Jinx, Gizmo, See-More, Kyd Wykkyd, Kitten, Red X and I. As we all slowly made our way down the hall to the cafeteria, See-More asked the exact same question that was bouncing around in my head, "What's for dinner?"

"Spaghetti," Gizmo said. It was the first time I heard him speak since I started this school.

"Didn't they serve that Monday?" Kitten asked as she sided up next to me. "So Robin, how is working for Slade?"

Jinx shot her a glare but Kitten didn't seem to even notice. I thought it was cute how much Jinx cared about my feelings. "Well," I began to answer, "It sucks, it's depressing, and at times scary." I figured that about summed it up. There was no point in going into deep dark details.

"Oh come on, it has to be interesting and even fun. Even just a little bit?" Red X asked.

I knew that questions like these were unavoidable, but that didn't make it them bother me any less. Slade is an extremely respected criminal, of course, but I still couldn't figure out why everybody wanted to be part of his life. Or mine for that matter. Although I realized that working for Slade did have some benefits like; nobody messes with me and I got to push myself to extremes. But there was no way this job was fun. Interesting? Perhaps at times, but it certainly wasn't anything to brag about.

"I," I tried to answer, but I knew that they didn't care about the truth. "Yes, I guess it is interesting and fun at times. I would be lying if I said I hated it."

Jinx gave me a side glance, but she let it go.

"I personally wouldn't want to be his apprentice." Kitten said as she placed a new layer of lip gloss on her thin lips.

Gizmo laughed, "Please, nobody would want that job."

I was confused; I thought that everybody wanted this job. It was a sign that you had great potential, if you were his apprentice. But they were right it wasn't a job anybody wanted.

"So are you and Fang still dating?" Jinx asked Kitten as we got in line.

"Okay so, Jace told me that she saw him with Ashley. So when I asked him aobut it he said that they were just there as friends." Kitten rolled her eyes. "Like I'm going to believe that."

"So you guys are over then?" Jinx asked.

"You know, I'm just going to wait till a vampire moves to town and sweeps me off my feet." Kitten joked and both her and Jinx laughed.

The girls continued their conversation and Jonny and Red X started to ask me about my love life. "So you are you with?" Red asked.

I blushed and looked down, "Nobody."

"Really?" Jonny asked with a sly grin, "Cuz it sure seemed like you and Starfire had a thing."

My face was really hot and that moment, but I was able to mutter out, "Obviously that isn't going to work out anymore now is it?"

"No. Probably not," Red said, "But Jinx is available."

"I-I…" I stuttered, not able to talk because of my embarrassment.

Jonny laughed and slapped me on the back playfully. "We're just playing with you."

"But she really does like you." Red X confirmed.

"Thanks for the advice, but I think we're going to keep it as friends for a while." I told them. I was desperate to get the subject off of me, so I ask Jonny, "What about you and Kitten? You two seemed to be closer than just friends."

Jonny laughed, "Well, aren't' we observant."

I gave him a smug smile.

"No we aren't anything more than friends." He said.

"I see," I said raising up an eyebrow with mock doubt.

"Yeah, I can't beat a guy with a spider for a head." Jonny said and we laughed.

"Nor I a green blob named Glrdlskelchhh," I said and shook my head at the memory. I looked up to see both Red X and Jonny giving me a strange look. I decided that it would probably befit us all to hear the full story, so I went into great detail about the time the Titans and I went off to Tamaran to watch Starfire get married.

By the time I was don't telling the story, not only did I have the attention of Jonny and Red X I had Kitten's, Jinx's, Gizmo's, Billy Nurmous', Mammoth's, and few others who names I did not know. They were all listening intensely, hanging on to every word. I never realized just how amazing my time with my team was. Of course everybody takes the things they have for granted when they have them, but once their gone a hole in your chest replaces what once was there.

By the time we were at the front of the line they were practically begging for more stories. I had a ton I could tell them, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to relive all those times. People say that talking about it makes you feel better; I was never one to talk about my feels so I never tried that tactic. But even I had to reluctantly admit telling them about the Titans made me feel a little better. Even if it was just a little.

One by one the unattractive lunch lady threw slope down onto our trays. I followed Mammoth to a round table in the back of the room. I half-heartedly wondered if this was the table I sat at two days ago. I couldn't remember. Not that it mattered.

"So," Jinx said sliding into her seat, "Mrs. Dunker just told me that I was to speak at the next villain convention in March."

"That's amazing," Kitten sang as she took a seat next to Jinx.

"Congratulations," Mammoth said.

"What an honor," Billy said.

As the rest of the group congratulated her I sat there dumb founded. I, of course, didn't know anything about this villain convention. It annoyed me that there was so much of this world that I didn't know about. But I was determined to find out.

"What is this villain convention?" I asked taking a bit of my gross food.

Jinx finished chewing before she answered, "It's this big convention that comes to Jump City every other year. All the best villains come. It's supposed to be an honor to be the one to talk. I don't know, but I think it's kind of stupid."

"No be so modest," the headmistress said. My heart skipped a beat. I didn't know she was there. Then she turned to me, "And Robin, you will be there also."

"I will?" I asked.

"Yes, Slade and Mr. Onen are always guests of honor." She didn't wait for me to respond before she walked away.

"I guess I'm going too." I stated matter-of-factly and took another bite of my food.

"Don't sound so sad, it's not that bad." Billy muttered and for a moment I thought that he just might be jealous.

We sat in silence for a while. When Kitten's phone when off, she bit her lip and stood up. Before anybody else could react she marched over to a table across the room. Jinx quickly got up and followed her. Jinx tried to grab Kitten's arm as she raised it high in the air, her arm just barely slipped through Jinx's fingers. I loud scream could be heard as Kitten's fist hit a girl's face.

I was shocked beyond belief. How could Kitten, a fragile sixteen year old girl punch someone in the face. I had always thought that Kitten was just a bully with a powerful dad, but now I realize that she had some fire in her.

I saw Jinx fight a smile as she walked back to our table. The headmistress had Kitten by the arm and was dragging her out of the cafeteria. Kitten was screaming and kicking the entire way out. Jinx grabbed my arm and said, "I have to talk to you."

I slowly got up. I told the others that I would be back in a few moments. Jinx led me out into the hall. It was quiet, only a few students where around, none of which would have been interested to hear what Jinx had to say to me. She pushed me against the wall. For a moment it thought she was going to kiss me.

She looked nervous, like she didn't want to tell me what she had on her mind. She finally looked at me through her eyelashes. "Robin," she breathed, "I really don't know how to tell you this, but you need to know. I didn't send the letter to Batman."

"What?" I asked, unable to understand the words that were coming of her mouth. How could she have not sent it? How could she do this to me? Make me believe that there was hope?

"I know you won't believe this or even want to listen to it, but I don't want you to go. You are one of us now." She explained, but I didn't want to hear it. I started to shake my head back and forth, but she continued, "Look at how well you're getting along with us. Robin I don't want us to be on separate sides again. I love you." She kissed me on the check and before I could respond she walked away.


	19. Chapter 19

I wanted to run after her, but then again maybe I didn't. I really didn't know what I wanted; my emotions have been played with for so long that I couldn't trust them anymore. Whether I wanted to run after or not didn't matter, my legs wouldn't have moved even if I did want to. I stood there glued to the floor, feeling as if someone had punched me in the stomach.

I stared at the hexagon shaped tiles on the floor hoping that somebody would come save me form this nightmare. I thought back to how my life was six months ago and how it was now. I fought back the tears by blinking quickly and biting my lower lip. I had been fighting my feelings for Jinx for a while now and it was ripping me apart inside. Now they were all spilling out.

I knew that I loved her, but I tried to bury it; and now that she has admitted that she loved me it was easy for me to admit it to myself. I knew what she was right. We couldn't be together if we were on different sides. But a part of me didn't want to be with Jinx, it wanted to be with Starfire. And we were on different sides now. I was a hero and that was the side that I belonged to. But could I stay a villain for love?

If I stayed a villain; stopped trying to find the protectors, stopped trying to contact Batman, and summited myself fully to Slade then I could be with Jinx. Then again, if I kept my kept the morals I was raised with and went back to being the hero I knew I was, then I could be with Starfire. I don't think the question is _who do I love more? _I think's it's _what life to I want to live? _But what if the life I choose doesn't' match up with the girl I love?

"It's a lot like Romeo and Juliet isn't it?" Jonny asked softly, slowly approaching me.

"Romeo and Juliet doesn't have a happy ending," I told him.

He sighed sadly, "Most stories worth telling don't."

"Is mine worth telling?" I asked my eyes slowly meeting his.

"You know, I had an elementary teacher once tell me that life is a book and at any given moment you have the power to say `this is how it's going to end.`"

"That's a load of crap, because people like Slade will just bulldoze right in and take whatever they want. Making it end the way they want."

"Then maybe you're not fighting for the right to your own story hard enough."

"Or maybe life has knocked me down one to many times and I just can't get up anymore."

"Have a little hope."

"Hope breeds eternal misery."

Jonny laughed at that, "You just a ray of sunshine."

"If I stay, then I go against everything I have been taught and I disappoint every one that has ever believed in me. Not to mention Slade wins."

"But you get Jinx."

"I get Jinx," I repeated liking the sound of that.

"And if you go back?"

"Then I get my life back."

"But you lose Jinx."

"Now you see my problem," I muttered.

"You and Slade getting along better?' Jonny asked, trying to change the subject.

I looked at him and answered honestly, "A little, but only because we have a common enemy."

"Mr. Onen?" Jonny guessed.

"Evil bastard."

Jonny and I walked to the auditorium. The others said that they would meet us there. On the way Jonny told me that Kitten got suspended from the school for three days. I found it interesting that a school for villains would punish random acts of violence.

We sat down next to Billy and Red X in the third row. I looked around; there really wasn't that many people in here. I was scanning the room for familiar faces when she walked in. Her arms were crossed and she looked nervous, like she wasn't sure if she should be here. I stood up, but Jonny pushed me back down.

"Let her explain." He whispered to me.

"I," I was about to respond, but I stopped when I realized that he shouldn't know about what happened between her and I. "Wait, how do you know about that?"

"I know a lot of things Robin."

"Nope," he smiled at me. "Relax I'm on your side."

Before I could say anything Jinx sat down by me.

"Hey," she said.

I wanted to be mad at her, but I couldn't force myself to be. "Hey," I answered back.

"You mad?" she whispered.

I shook my head, "No."

"Why?" she asked astonished.

"Can we not talk about this now?" I asked her. I wasn't sure why I wasn't mad. I wasn't sure why I loved her. I wasn't sure why I didn't want to go back to the Titans. Or maybe I did want to go back to the Titans, I just didn't know any more. If Slade let me go tonight with no strings attached, I wasn't sure if I would go. I had made friends with Jinx, Jonny, Red X, Kitten, Billy, and a few others. If I went back to being a hero then I would be forced to fight them. I couldn't do that.

She looked at me, trying to read my expression. "Sure."

We watched the movie in silence. I really wasn't paying attention to it. I laughed when the others laughed so they wouldn't suspect anything, but my mind was spinning. I knew that there was no way out of this situation. I would be Slade's apprentice for years to come. I had no way out; Batman wasn't coming and I had no idea how to contact the Protectors. Logically I should just start over with my life. I had new friends and for the whole criminal thing; it could grow on me.

But something wouldn't let me fully commit to this new life. Part of my heart still belonged to the Titans and it always would. I loved Starfire, I really did. I loved being a hero, saving people even when they didn't deserve it. I loved my dad. I loved my friends. I loved my life. Now I found myself loving people that I swore I would hate. I found myself planning out a future that involved me stealing things and hurting people.

After the movie was over it was late and I was tired. I would be sharing a room with Red X. I said good night to everyone, including Jinx. As turned to leave, Jinx caught me by the arm and kissed me on the cheek. I didn't look at her or say anything. I wasn't in the mood to respond. So I followed Red, feeling guilty, because I knew I had hurt her.

"Robin, do you miss them?" Red X asked after we were all ready for bed and sitting in the dark. I had borrowed a shirt and a pair of pants from Red. It was crazy how similar our body type was.

I knew who he was talking about, but I still asked, "Who?"

"The Titans." He answered in a matter of fact tone of voice.

"Of course I do," I muttered and curled up in a fetal position.

"When was the last time we saw them?" he asked timidly.

"You mean besides on posters that are plastered all around this hell hole? Two months."

"Robin, Mrs. Sand is going to make you steal something tomorrow. She's going to make you fight them while the class watches on a hidden camera." Red told me sadly. I knew that it was a secret that nobody was supposed to tell. And I wondered it that was the reason everyone was so nice to me, because they knew that tomorrow would be hell for me.

I was surprised at how calm my voice was, "Slade won't allow that."

"Robin, I don't think she cares what Slade will allow. She's willing to get fired for it. She just wants to make you suffer."

I couldn't feel worried or angry or even scared. I was excited. I haven't seen them for two months and even though we would be on opposite sides and will have an audience. I was excited, because I would get to see my friends again. Face to face.


	20. Chapter 20

"What happened?" Slade growled as he came barging through the door.

The room was deadly silent. I sat in the principal's office staring at the edge of the desk. My head hurt and my arm was bleeding from a large gash. They, the teachers and school nurse, kept insisting that I get stitches, but I wouldn't let them near me. Tears fell from my eyes. For once I wasn't ashamed of them so I didn't bother to wipe them off. I just let them fall.

Mrs. Sand was in the corner smirking, but if I was her I would be afraid for my life. There was no way Slade would let her get away with this. There was no way _I_ would let her get away with this. She would hurt, just as much as I did.

Mr. Onen was standing next to Mrs. Sand. I wasn't sure how he felt about this whole situation. He didn't say anything as he tried to reach for my arm with a towel. He was overly concerned and wanted so badly to stitch up my arm, but I would let him near me. It was obvious that he was afraid of how Slade would react to all this. He, for once, knew his place and stood silently next to Mrs. Sand, leaving me alone.

The Headmistress was sitting respectfully behind her desk, but gracefully stood up when Slade entered. When it was clear that nobody was going to answer Slade's question, she spoke up. "Um, I'm afraid that there has been abuse of power, but rest assured we will take care of it."

"What happened?" Slade asked again, his voice cold.

I just continued to stare at the desk blankly, unmoving. There was no way I was going to say anything, I had already been through too much today. Blood still flowed freely from my arm onto the floor. I wasn't a doctor, but I knew from the puddle of blood on the floor that it wouldn't be long before I bleed out. Not that I minded it, I welcomed death at this point.

"Give me that," Slade demanded as he grabbed the towel form Mr. Onen's arm.

"He wouldn't let us near him," Mr. Onen tried to explain, but Slade ignored him as he crouched down to my level and wrapped the towel tightly around my arm. I flinched and grinded my teeth in pain.

Slade grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him and he asked one more time, "Robin, what happened?"

"Why don't you just watch the video?" I asked him sadly.

He snapped his head up and demanded, "What video?"

**Four Hours Earlier**

I slowly walked into Mrs. Sand's room, dragging me feet the whole way there. It was going to be a long day. Red X had informed me last night at Mrs. Sand was planning on sending me off on a mission. And then she was going to video tape my encounter with the Titans all while the entire class watches.

I threw myself into a chair at a desk in the back of the class. I knew that there was no use in hiding, but it was worth a shot. I thought about suddenly running out of the class room, out of this school and disappearing into the city. Slade would eventually find my and then there would hell to pay.

Mrs. Sand walked in and I sunk deeper into the chair, trying to unsuccessfully hide. Her smug smile was clear evidence that she saw me and had every intention to expose my weakness to everyone.

"Good morning class," she said in a sickly sweet voice. "Lately in class we have been discussing how to take down the Teen Titans. Today one of you will have the pleasure of fighting them in front of the entire class."

Nobody said anything.

"Hmmm," she tapped her index finger along her lips, "I wonder who I will choose. Who will have the amazing opportunity to fight the Titans?" A wicked smile spread across her face as she whispered my name, "Robin."

The tension in the room was thick; everyone wanted to turn around and stare at me, but no one dared look back. I stood up, tall, and walked up to her.

"Fine, what do you want me steal?" I asked her in an even voice, I wasn't going to let her get the satisfaction of seeing me fall apart.

Her smile never left her face as she handed me a picture of a gun, "This is a laser gun that I have wanted for most of my life. You are going to steal it. You are going to fight the Titans. You are going to win. Understand?

I took a deep breath, "Yes."

"There are cameras set up all around where you will be. We will all be watching."

"I won't disappoint." I told her and walked out, not waiting for her to answer. This was going to be anything but easy. First I had no weapons; I was just going to have to use my karate skills. Second, with the entire class watching, I couldn't do anything that would give away their weaknesses. Third, this was a fight that I was going to have to lose. I didn't have anything to fight them with and I couldn't do anything that gave anything about them away. And finally the gun was located at Wayne Enterprise.

The sunlight blinded me when I opened that door and trotted down the steps. It didn't take me long to reach my destination. I let my eyes wander around the area, trying to find some of the hind cameras, but they were well hidden. I wondered when she would turn on the cameras. Did she want the class to see my steal or did she just want to watch the fight?

I stealthy snuck into the building. I knew where the gun was, I remember the day one of the inventors presented it to Bruce. I tagged along simply because it was a boring June day and all my friends were either busy or on vacation. It caught my eye form the very beginning, but Bruce said that we could never use it. It posed too big of a threat, someone could easily get hurt.

When I went to pick it up the alarm never went off and I for a moment hope flashed within me. Maybe I wouldn't have to do this after all. Life has a funny way of rubbing things into your face and this time was no exception. The gun was in my no longer than ten second when the alarm finally went off. I heard a voice shout out over the intercom, "Intruder alert, intruder alert. The Teen Titans are on their way."

I cursed and ran out the front door. Sure enough, they stood in the street, waiting for me to come out. All four of them were in their own unique fighting stance. They kept their faces blank, but I could see the hurt in their eyes. There were no words to describe how badly I didn't want to do this. I would give anything to be out of this situation.

It was an awkward silence, nobody moved, nobody hardly breathed. Either side wanted to make the first move; these were fights that didn't feel good to win. I could practically feel the cameras on me, watching, waiting for me to make a move. I knew I had no choice, if Slade found out that I didn't even try to fight then there would be hell to pay. I raised up my arm and shot at them with the gun. The war had begun.

Cyborg yell _Titans go_, and I dodged a blast from his arm cannon. Beast Boy turned into a gorilla and chased after me, to avoid him I threw myself onto the ground and rolled away. I smacked my shoulder hard on the cement ground. I knew it would leave a bruise, but I didn't have time to recover. Raven was chanting her mysterious spell. Black, shadow, claws of a raven reached out and grabbed me. I struggled but I couldn't get free.

As I was struggling my eyes met up with Starfire's. Tears were swelling up in her big, round, beautiful, green eyes. She didn't make any form of movement. She didn't want to hurt me. I didn't want to hurt her. She hung in the back, hoping that I would escape so she wouldn't have to see my in cuffs. When I struggled some more and couldn't get away, she started to turn away.

"Star, wait!" I screamed and Raven dropped me from what I could only assume was shock. Starfire whipped around, unable to believe that I was talking to her, let alone just used her nickname.

I ran up to her but stopped when I got within a few a yards. I didn't want to get close enough that I scared her and she attacked. The other Titans started to close in, but stopped when she gave them a death glare. When locked eyes and stayed in that position for what seemed like a life time, although it couldn't have been more than a few minutes. And while we stood there our eyes locked; I was happy, truly happy.

But then that moment ended.

"Why," she whispered in a pained voice. "What did I do?"

My heart shattered when I heard that. How could she think that this was her fault? I felt even worse than before, if that were even possible. "It's not your fault, Star. It has never been your fault."

"Then why?" she was shouting now.

"I can't…Star, please…I just," I tried to explain, but I couldn't tell her or any of them. If Slade found out that I told them he would kill them.

The tears were now falling freely down her face. "Robin, I have been patient, waiting for you to come home. But you never do. I lay awake at night wondering why you left and how I could have prevented it. I have fought you numerous times and each time I die a little inside. The least you can do is give me a reason why?"

"Even angels fall, Star," I mumbled sadly.

She shook her head back and forth, "I love you. I looked up to you."

"Star, the day we met, I knew we had something special. I have loved you ever since and I haven't stopped. Our story started out wonderful, perfect, and amazing. Our future was so bright…."

She cut me off, "Then stop this. If you love me then come home with us."

"I can't." I wanted so bad to explain.

"Why?" she screamed.

"Because if I do then," I whipped my head to the side, unable to finish my sentence.

She floated closer to me. She took my hands in hers. I slowly looked up at her, she was no longer crying, but a small smile danced across her face. She leaned in and gently kissed me on the lips. I was will to bet my life that this was not the way that Mrs. Sand thought that fight would go.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Shocked I asked, "Why?"

She was still whispering, "I should have never let you go alone that day. I should have insisted that I go with. If I did maybe you wouldn't be in this mess."

I gently brushed her hair out of her face and placed my palm on the side of her cheek. "It's not your fault, love, you didn't know. The only person you should balm is me. I'm the weak one."

"Robin, you can tell me anything. We," she gestured to the rest of the team, "can help you."

I leaned in real close so the cameras couldn't pick up what I was saying and whispered to her, "I'm doing this to protect you, to keep you safe."

"I don't want to be kept safe, I want you home."

"You can't have both." I took my hand away from her face and began to walk away.

Starfire told me in a calm almost cold voice, "You will always be my hero, even though you switched sides. But know, even though you will always be my best friend and hero, I will never be able to forgive you."

"Robin," Cyborg yell out, "I can't let you walk away."

"I know," I answered him and got into my fight stance. I was so focused on Cyborg, Star and Raven that I forgot to keep an eye one Beast Boy. Suddenly I was flying across the street. I groaned as I landed on a light pole. I looked to see Beast Boy in the shape of a rhino. My head was pounding and something warm was spilling down my arm. I touched it and winced when a sharp pain bolted through me. I tried to get up, but I got really dizzy and fell back down to the ground.

"Robin," Starfire screamed and flew towards me, helping me up.

"Star, I don't want to go. I'm not ready to go. I want to stay here with you guys. I can't go back. I don't want to go back. Stay with me," I muttered, my world was going black. "It's not your fault." Then everything went black.

**Present**

Slade watched the video in silence, but he gradually got angrier as he watched. I knew this because the pressure he had on my arm got tight and tighter. What I didn't know was who he mad at was. I, of course, broke a very strict rule, _never talk to the Titans. _But then again, Mrs. Sand tormented me. We were both in the wrong; it now just depended on who he was angrier with.

"I'm sorry, Master," I whispered. It didn't hurt to suck up.

Mr. Onen took a step forward and I flinched a little. "Slade," he said, "I didn't know about this."

"We will talk about this later. Right know Robin needs stitches." Slade pulled off his glove and ran his hand through my hair. Then he gently grabbed the side of my face with his palm and calmly explained what was going to happen, "I am going to take you back to the lair and give you something for the pain. I will stitch you up and you will stay home for the rest of the week. Understand?"

I gave him a small, quick, curt nod.

"Can you get the rest of the day off?" Slade asked Mr. Onen.

"Can I?" he asked the Headmistress.

"Of course," she said.

"I want to go home," I muttered to nobody. I wasn't thinking too clearly, the pain was too much.

"We are." Slade answered in a soft voice that wasn't his own.

"No, I want to go home." I said again, the pain blinding my judgment.


	21. Chapter 21

**It is now officially summer vacation for me! Yay! So I will defiantly be updating more often. I'm thinking at least once a week….I hope you like this chapter. **

The next few days consisted of sleeping, eating, and avoiding Slade. I was in no mood to put up with anymore shit. I wanted out. I was going to get out. They only question was _how? _

I didn't want to ask Jinx for help. I was done depending on people, besides she lied to me. She made me believe that she was on my side. She told me that she sent the letter to Batman, when in reality she didn't. She promised that she would help, do everything in her power to get my where I wanted to go; then she turned around told me it was all a lie.

I didn't realize just how much that hurt. I thought I loved her and maybe I still do, I don't know. But seeing Starfire again brought back feelings I thought I had buried. The moment I looked into her green eyes, those tortured feelings came roaring back.

It was obvious I loved bother girls. Maybe the question wasn't _who do I love_. Maybe it was _who do I love more?_ Who did I love more?

Starfire was gorgeous and that body was too hot for words. She was warm and loving. She made me smile and laugh. She reminded me who I was in the darkest of times. But her mind was so simple, so innocent that at times it became more irritating than cute.

But Jinx was cruel. She was ruthless and a criminal. She didn't care about others. She didn't care about me. Or did she? She did become my friends when I needed one. But then she ruined it by lying to me and the trust between us was shattered. I couldn't be in a relationship with someone I couldn't trust.

"Robin," Slade called me name.

The sound of his voice brought me out of my thoughts. I snapped my head up. Slade was standing firmly against the door frame of my room. I jumped up off my bed and nimbly to my feet and muttered, "Yes, Sir?"

Slade waited a few moments before continuing. "You will report back to school tomorrow."

Panic filled my stomach and my chest started to burn. Going back to that school was the last thing I wanted to do. "No," I said. I wasn't going back. I didn't want to see _her_ again.

That was one little word that Slade hated the most. "Excuse me?" he hissed.

I almost backed down. Almost. But then something in me clicked. I was sick of always being afraid of him. If fighting the Titans had taught me anything it was that my life couldn't get any worse. And I knew that I couldn't let fear control my life. Defy and win.

"You heard me," I said in a clear, unshaken voice, so there was confusion.

"I don't think you know what you're saying," Slade growled, no longer leaning against the door frame.

"I know perfectly well what I'm saying." I crossed my arms, "I'm done. Done with that school, done with being your apprentice, I'm just done."

"You've had a rough week. I'm going to let that slide." Slade said calmly. "You will be going to school tomorrow."

He turned to walk out, but stopped when I said, "if you send me back to that school I'll run." Slade turned to look at me and I continued unfazed, "I will run out into the street and scream at the top of my lungs everything that had happened, everything that you forced me to do. Someone is bound to hear and even maybe have a camera. You may not be scared of me or the Teen Titans, or even Batman, but you and I both know that you can't take on the Justice League. You will lose and you know it."

Slade snapped open the controller and a red button was exposed. I kept my face emotionless.

"I guess," Slade taunted, "I will just have to destroy your friends then."

"Go ahead," I said, not exactly sure what was coming out of my mouth. "You kill them and you have nothing to seep my here with. And I have no reason to stay."

Knowing that he had no control over me at that moment, Slade stormed over and roughly grabbed my arm, almost pulling it out of the socket. He reached over and smacked me; hard. I was surprised that my teeth didn't come loose. He then grabbed a hand full of my hair and crammed my neck back. Pain shot up my spine and through my neck. I was afraid that he would snap my neck and kill my instantly.

I gasped out and he shoved me against the wall. My head flew back and it hit the stone wall behind. I felt warm blood drip from my scalp down onto my shoulder blades. The pain in my head was distracting. I tried so desperately to block it out by pressing my hands against the wound. That was a mistake. Not only did it make my head hurt worse, but it left my ribs unprotected.

Slade took advantage of my unprotected ribs. He curled his fingers into a fist and slammed it into my rib cage over and over again. I quickly brought my hands down, but Slade continued to punch me. He continued to hit my wrist, I was vaguely aware that if he hit it at just the right angle then—

"Ow," I screamed out in pain. I tried to drop to my knees, but Slade wouldn't let me. Sharp, blinding pain pulsed through my left wrist. This wasn't the first time that I have felt this kind of pain. I knew exactly what had happened; my wrist was broken.

Suddenly, as if he just realized what he was doing, Slade stopped. I fell to the ground in a heap, fighting back tears of pain, frustration, and embarrassment. Slade looked me up and down and then left.

I was all alone. I half crawled; half dragged myself to the cot in the Connor of the room that served has my bed. I plopped myself down as gently as I could, but cot was hard and my ribs were more than likely broken. I whimpered and laid flat on my back, wanting so badly to die. I looked up at the ceiling waiting for sleep to come.

How could I be so stupid? I should have known better than to threaten him like that. He has had a rough and stressful week too. I should have seen the signs. I should have stopped myself. Why didn't I?

I needed out of here. But now, after the beating I just received, I was scared to. I had forgotten just how scared of Slade I was. I had forgotten just how unstable he was. He had fooled me into thinking he had changed, that we were now on the same side, fighting the same enemy. I had thought maybe…

I didn't know what time it was or no way knowing. It could be morning, it could be afternoon, of it could be the middle of the night. I didn't know nor did I care. I was exhausted. My eyes were heavy, but I couldn't fall asleep, my wrists, ribs, and head too bad.

I laid on my bed looking up at the ceiling. It was pitch back. They room was windowless and the lights were shut off. I couldn't see a thing. I shut my eyes and drifted in and out of sleep.

After I woke up for the sixth time, I decided to suck it up and go find Slade. Maybe, if I was lucky and he was in a better mood, he might give me something for the pain. Or at least something to put me to sleep. I tried to slowly get up, but pain in my torso forced me back down. I wasn't going to be able to do this without any pain. I might as well just get it over with. I quickly, without hesitation, sat up. That move knocked the breath out of me.

I took a few minutes and just breathed through my nose, trying to calm the pain. I still had to get to my feet. Dread filled me as I swung one leg over onto the bed. I was rewarded with little pain. I was thankful for that. A little bit more time past before I was brave enough to try to swing my other leg onto the ground. Taking a breath, placing both feet onto the ground, I stood up.

I wobbled a little but soon steadied myself against the wall. It was dark and I couldn't see. I rubbed my hand along the wall, looking for the door. I eventually found it without too much tripping. I pushed it open and walked out.

Only recently was I allowed to leave my room without permission. It took a lot of sucking up and begging to make Slade okay with this new rule. I enjoyed this new freedom and haven't really done anything to get this privilege taken away. Sure I snuck out in the middle of the night to get a snack, but that was it. Doing anything else was just too risky.

I made my way down the barely light hallway. I could have found my way to the main room with or without any light. I knew this place like the back of my hand. As I came up to the entrance of the main room I heard soft murmuring.

I recoiled back into the darkness. Then, went I felt a little braver, leaned in. The soft murmuring became louder and louder as I got closer. Soon I was able to make out the words. There was two men talking, I could only assume one was Slade. Who the other person was was any body's guess.

"You over reacted," I heard the voice of the stranger say.

"How would you have reacted if _I_ would have said that too _you_?" Slade said, putting emphases on the words 'I' and 'you.'

The other man sighed, "I would have done the same thing, only worse."

At that moment I knew who the other man was; Mr. Onen, of course. I thought Slade and Mr. Onen were fighting. But I knew deep down that a bond between a master and apprentice can't be broken. It wasn't that they were just master and apprentice it was the fact that Mr. Onen had beaten Slade down and had broken him. Then after he was beaten and broken, Mr. Onen built him up to the person he wanted him to be. That kind of bond can't be broken.

"What am I supposed to do?" I heard Slade ask and my attention snapped back to their conversation.

It was a few moments before Mr. Onen answered. "You need to set certain rules. Not just vague rules, but specific rules. Set out the rules and lay out the consequences. Make sure he knows exactly what will happen if he breaks a rule. And if he does break a rule don't make excesses, punish him. He needs stability. That is how you become a respected master and not a feared monster."

I wanted to stay and listen, but I knew if I got caught eavesdropping then there would be hell to pay. I slowly backed up, feet light, breath even. The darkness covered me and the sounds of the two men faded. I reached back with my left wrist and pain shot up through my entire arm and I remembered what I came here for.

For a moment I thought about just forgetting it and sucking up the pain. But I wanted to sleep, I needed to sleep. I couldn't sleep with the pain constantly nagging at me. I reluctantly walked forward. I reached out to knock, but before my hand made contact with the door it open and Slade looked down at me.

I flinched and looked down, holding my wrist, making it obvious. "Slade," I muttered, "Can I have something for the pain?"

Slade just stared at me with his masked face.

"Or something to help me sleep?" I asked again.

A few moments passed and I was afraid I had really screwed up. I was ready to back away when Slade held out his hands and told me to give it to him. I gently laid my wrist into his large hands praying that he would be gentle. He examined my wrist for a while then reached out to touch my ribs. I took in a sharp breath as he touched a certain rib.

"We need to get this wrapped." Slade lead me through the door. Mr. Onen stood back, I couldn't see him. We continued to walk through another door and then took a right and walked through another door after that. We ended up in the first aid room. He grabbed a tan piece of cloth and wrapped up my wrist.

After he was done with that he said, "Take off your shirt."

I gave him a confused look, but I took it off anyway.

"This way," Slade explained, "I can wrap up your ribs too."

"Okay."

Slade worked quietly only speaking when he was finished. "Are you mad at me?"

This question surprised me. Slade has never cared how I felt about him. I didn't say anything, I just shrugged.

"You can tell me. Be honest."

I was too tired to be difficult. "Yes."

"Do you understand why I did what I did?"

"Yes."

"Do you?" Slade turned around and opened up a cabinet and took out a bottle of pills.

"Yes."

It was silent for a while. I just looked down, not wanting to talk to him. Slade stared at me for a while and I knew he wanted to say more, but he couldn't find the words. Slade was not one for small interment moments.

I pulled back, but he grabbed my arm and held me still. "We need to talk," he said.

"Okay."

"We're going away," he said and handed me two pills.

I didn't put the pills into my mouth, I needed water. "Where too?" I asked.

"Paris," Slade turned and started to walk out. I followed.

"Why?" I asked quietly.

I found myself following Slade back into the main room where he handed me a bottle of water. Mr. Onen was standing in the corner. I noticed that he had suitcases next to him and to my absolute horror I realized he would be coming with.

"Our plane leaves at four," Slade told me. "Now go to bed."

**Okay so I am writing an original piece and I posted it on Fiction Press. It's called The Fight for Power by lilypad161. Please tell me what you think! Please!? I would really appreciate it!**


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